


Right in Front of You...

by natsuyo0329



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon, Fluff, Foreplay, Kissing, Light foreplay, M/M, Masturbation, Torture, Violence, dreams-gone-wild, m/m - Freeform, non-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-04 17:02:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 53,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3074945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natsuyo0329/pseuds/natsuyo0329
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick has nowhere to turn when his "friends" refuse to explain to him what happened the night after the zombie attacks...</p><p>Sean Renard wants his Grimm bad enough to explain everything to him...</p><p>Nick, emotionally distraught runs off...</p><p>Sean finds him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unintentional Sleepover

He heard it again, a voice in the back of his mind telling him to hand over control. Nick wasn’t aware of when the presence had started but he noticed how easier it was to catch Wesen now. Enhanced hearing, strength, flexibility, and even fighting prowess seemed to come naturally to Nick now. The only side effect, if you could call it one, was the fact that he seemed to be missing pockets of time. People around him state that his skin goes a deadly shade of grey and his heart rate seems to slow to barely audible. Nick hasn’t noticed this but perhaps it is okay, letting the voice take the reins to his body every now and then; as long as it’s used to help or save people and not kill indiscriminately. Slowly Nick shook his head; things with Juliette were getting better, he was getting more powerful and that’s all that mattered. He’ll deal with the ramifications later, if they ever came up.

~~~

Captain Renard was at an impasse, once again, as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Nick Burkhardt. The detective under his command was an anomaly, a force to be reckoned with, and… entirely too handsome. _No,_ Sean chastised himself. Now was not the time to let his Zauberbiest side cloud his judgment. Juliette was the person who tied Nick to Portland, not his ranking officer or job. An evil thought, brought on by his other-self, burrowed into the front of his mind. Getting rid of the human girl would leave Sean to help Nick through the loss and get closer to the Grimm. It didn’t help matters when Sean blatantly screamed at Nick saying that he wasn’t a full human anymore in the adrenaline fueled spat the two shared in the woods.

As the thoughts passed through, visions of that fight resurfaced. The heat between the two of them, Nicked uncontrolled fury and Sean’s poorly masked sexual desire for his grim mixed in the wooden area. Every time Nick charged at him, Renard deflected the detective, not wanting to compromise his feelings, no matter how much his Zauberbiest side wanted. Captain Renard continued to look at his reflection and he saw the veins shift in his face, the unmistakable proof that his other self was just there under the surface, and he hated it. Nick has had issues with Hexenbiest before; the traitor Adalind had forever tarnished the Grimm’s perception of Sean’s ilk. Sean knew he couldn’t make a move on Nick until the moment was perfect, when the relationship between him and Juliette would strain, and it would; humans can only take the Wesen world for so long before something inside them broke.

Sean brought his hand up to the bridge at the top of his nose and closed his eyes as he rubbed the spot, trying to get his concentration back on track. Nick was slowly evolving in to a Grimm of legend. Not the frail creatures that walked the earth today. Although they were inherently studier than regular humans, most of them haven’t been able to unlock their heritage. The Jinnamuru Xunte that blinded Nick seemed to trigger part of abilities Grimm’s used to have in the middle ages and before. Abilities that made them the threats they were. Sure seeing Wesen for who they truly are without said Wesen woge-ing out was a nifty trick. But even in their human form, Wesen had traits from their alter egos. Hank had told Sean that Nick had experienced enhanced hearing at the loss of his sight, he had been getting more athletic and nimble as well; from the combat he’s seen. Yes, Nick seemed to be adapting extremely quick for a Grimm who has been aware of how the world really is for only a year.

Unfortunately for Sean and for Nick that meant that the seven royal families in Europe would be sending even more formidable foes to try and scratch out his Grimm. That probably explained why his brother decided to unexpectedly show up in his territory. Right at the same time people were disappearing left and right due to a “Voodoo Man” in a top hat. It all seemed somewhat familiar to Sean like a story he heard long ago, told by his mother when he was a child. Those times were best left forgotten anyways. Sean was sure that his detective would figure things out before it got too out of hand…

At that thought, Captain Renard’s phone rang his work cell phone. He answered quickly, “Captain Renard.”

“Captain!” it was Hank’s voice, “Juliette, Monroe, and Rosalee are down at the Shipping yard apparently they are surrounded by zombies! I called Nick, he’s on his way. Sgt Wu is getting every able bodied cop to go down there to assist!”

“Nick’s what?!” Sean exclaimed violently into his phone. There were too many possibilities that could go wrong in a shipping yard. His Grimm was going to need more than a little assistance from humans, more than Rosalee and Monroe could give him. He needed a Royal, well, half Royal there to help him. Sean grabbed his coat and fastened his badge to his belt as he always does, his gun holster hadn’t even left his belt loop yet.

“Address.” Captain Renard said vehemently into the receiver. It was finally his turn to show how good he does in a fight, more-so than that little skirmish between Nick and himself in the forest. Hank gave him the address as Sean got into his personal car and flicked on the flashing lights before he screeched out of the parking garage to save his Grimm.

~~~~

Nick didn’t understand what was going on. It was dark on all four sides and he couldn’t move which was strange. He remembered being in the shipping yard and…nothing. Why in the Hell couldn’t he move his body?! _Let me out..._ The voice in his head whispered. That presence again, wanting him to take a backseat while his body did what it needed to survive. In that moment, Nick felt his adrenaline pump harder and faster, soon his arms moved at a reckless pace as his fists pounded at the darkness around him. Not surprising, Nick couldn’t feel anything as his body beat itself out of the prison he was kept.

As soon as he was freed, Nick assumed he would get control of his body as he did previously when his life was threatened. Something was off though and it seemed his other self, dear god, it was like he was a wesen. Maybe Renard was right that he didn’t belong in the human world anymore. Then a face came into view as Nick felt his body move about a…airplane? Memories clouded Nick’s mind for a moment as he remembered the “Voodoo Man” he was following, whom ended up being a Wesen, go figure, and when he finally caught up to him that Wesen spat in his face and he fell unconscious.

“I command you!” the man spat before Nick, he even tried spitting in his eyes again.

Nick felt his lips twitch up in a smirk, after some guttural growls, before he felt his arms go up and easily snap the man’s neck. _Well, that was simple,_ he thought, still waiting for the ability to take control of his body again. When it didn’t happen Nick noticed himself moving towards the cockpit where the pilots were. _Not human’s…_ his other self muttered to Nick in his mind and then it stated, _we’ll survive_ , as he grabbed the controls and the aircraft plummeted to the ground. It was then that Nick completely blacked-out, letting his base nature take over for his survival.

“The “zombies” are waking up sir…” Sgt Wu reported to Captain Renard, but Sean was too busy worrying about his Grimm to bother paying attention to the officer.

“Great, thanks Wu. We’ll let you take care of the clean-up.” Hank offered as he motioned for his Captain to move out of ear-shot.

Sean’s body went through the motions of living as his brain screamed for answers to questions that were running rampant in his mind. He awoke from his dazed expression when Hank snapped his fingers a couple times in his face. Sean replied quickly, “What is it detective?”

“I said Captain, a perp matching Nick’s description just got radioed in, in a town not too far from here.” Hank repeated.

Sean’s eyes grew wide in anticipation and hunger to see Nick a live and unharmed. He started towards his car as he stated bluntly, “Let’s go.”

~~~~~

The scene before Sean was terrible. It was like a hurricane had gone off inside the bar. What’s worse is that there was a body at the foot of the bar. The natives were calling for blood and Captain Renard knew that Nick was not himself. The pufferfish man had done to Nick what he’d done to all the other humans, except with his Grimm, it was like his heritage had taken over. Indeed, his Grimm was strong, but Sean feared for Nick’s sanity when all this blew over. He had to believe in the Fuchsbau’s antidote and return Nick to his senses.

“Another call captain! A family is being terrorized near here!” Hank spat over the crowd demanding justice.

There was still more to do here however, Sean called out, “You go on ahead, I’ll meet you there while I deal with this!”

Hank needed and ran off to his car with Rosalee and Monroe on his heels. Now it was time to protect Nick even if the Grimm didn’t know it. Sean walked into the back room and trashed the place, letting his aggressions towards the situation out on the inanimate objects. Breathing heavily, and sweat starting to trickle down his forehead, Sean motioned to leave and then he turned back around and grabbed the security footage so he could witness Nick’s prowess in secret. He nodded as he surveyed his work and left to the family’s house where Nick was last seen. Captain Renard was certain that between Hank and Monroe, one of them could stall enough time for Sean to get there and make sure Nick survived the night.

~~~

What was going on? People were standing in front of Nick and he had a vague sense of who they were…but they were in his way. Where he was going, he didn’t know but they were stopping him. He edged forward and the two flinched. A smirk made its way to Nicks face as shutter of excitement ran down his spine. He was looking for a good fight or even better, a chase that got his blood pumping. To his delight the two men ran out a door behind them and Nick growled in pleasure before running after his prey.

“..Nick!” a voice rang through his body, chilling his mind.

Nick turned his head around looking for the source and his eyes laid on the figure approaching from the driveway. The man was far taller than him and well-built despite the tailored suit he was wearing trying to conceal it. It wasn’t just the hidden potential but the presence the man emanated forcing his will onto Nick. His feelings and demands were forced onto Nick forcing him to stutter for just a moment, long enough for a multiheaded syringe to impale his chest. Nick’s vision wavered around the edges and the last thing he saw was the man walking towards him from the driveway. His mouth in a thin line, several thoughts invaded Nick’s mind as he blacked out, sorrow, pain, and desire.

~~~

“His skin hasn’t changed back and his heart rate is still barely audible. We need to get him back to the spice shop to get him more of the antidote. I’m honestly not surprised one does wasn’t enough to fully cure him.” Rosalee stated to the group.

Renard bit his bottom, he didn’t want to let his Grimm out of his sight but the woman was right, “Okay, call me as soon as he awakens.”

Monroe had the gall to look defiantly at Renard, stating, “You commanding or asking?”

Captain Renard felt the vein in his temple throb at the disrespect the Blutbad was showing him. Part of him wanted to drop the creature where he stood but that would only encourage disdain in Nick’s little group of misfits and he couldn’t have that, not if Sean wanted Nick to be his own someday. He had to swallow his pride if he wanted acceptance from the ragtag group. Sighing inwardly, Sean thought of phrases that would be acceptable for such lowlifes- No, that wouldn’t do- for Nick’s friends…

Before Sean could let a word out, he felt his Zauberbiest self try and emerge to take over his words of choice, so instead Renard bit the inside of his cheek before saying, “I do not intend to order you as your Reagant, but I would be grateful if you would inform me none-the-less. Nick may not trust me, hell, you Blutbad may hate me, however, I AM his commanding officer at the precinct…”

This wasn’t going as he had planned…Sean thought to himself. He shook his head lightly, “I’m sorry. P-Please just inform me when he awakens…” Captain Renard cursed himself for the stutter as he walked away. He was even more ashamed that he had blushed a little bit, his true feelings for his Grimm peeking through his perfectly constructed mask he had needed to create while he lived at court. It was easy to see the effect Nick had on him but he couldn’t let the others know. Instead he took the cowards’ way out and walked away, swiftly.

“That was strange…” Monroe said dumbfounded. He shrugged his shoulders and carried his unconscious friend to the car, where the group then continued to the spice shop.

~~~

Nick opened his eyes slowly, it seemed like he was in a nightmare for the longest time. What’s worse is that he didn’t remember any of it. There was even something itching at the back of his mind, something that he knew was important. His friends seemed to think it was better if Nick didn’t know what happened over the course of the night but he needed to know. Even his partner Hank wouldn’t tell him when Nick pressured him. The only thing he remember was going after the puffer-fish Wesen then everything went blank.

“You don’t need to worry…” Juliet said with a concerned voice.

Even if she said that Nick couldn’t help himself, what if- What if he hurt someone by accident? Nick shook his head and walked off. When he couldn’t think to himself or just wanted to be alone he went to the place he felt more comfortable, the police station. He would drown himself in work until he figured out the nagging sensation in the back of his mind. As he walked through the familiar doors and made it to his desk he was bombarded by two other detectives who were working on a case involving a murder at some bar outside town.

Nick sighed, the two idiots always had it in for Hank and him since they started on their case closing streak. To be honest most of them were Wesen cases but who cares? Cases that were closed were what mattered in the end. What through him for a loop however was when they asked where he had been in the past 24 hours. Nick couldn’t tell them that he was turned into a zombie and that made him forget everything… The whole department knew he had gone missing during the zombie raid at the shipping yard. The two detectives were even cocky enough to say that the suspect that they were chasing looked exactly like Nick…

“Burkhardt! My office now!” Captain Renard bellowed through the department.

“Tsch! Saved by the Captain! Just to let you know Burkhardt, I intend to investigate this thoroughly and if I find anything that implicates you…” one of the fools stated as Nick hurried to Renard’s office.

Nick didn’t want to hear the rest of it as he walked into his Captain’s office. He asked, “Yes Sir?”

Ugh, Sean loved the way Nick rolled that simple word off his tongue He wondered how it would sound with him nude and sweating beneath him… Renard blinked several times and coughed into his hand as he stated in a neutral tone, “How have you been?”

Nick couldn’t help but feel suspicious about the question. Before the whole Zombie Apocalypse thing, Captain Renard had confronted him and revealed who he was to Nick. Of course there was a confrontation and Nick was beat, badly. But since then Nick didn’t know where his feelings stood towards the man. Sure he would still have a working relationship with him since he was his boss and all, but he didn’t know… He felt betrayed somehow… The little bits and pieces of information Nick managed to get out of Monroe gave the impression that without the Captain, Nick and the other civilians might have still been under control of Renard’s brother. It was indeed a loaded question, and Nick planned to be neutral.

“Still a little confused. I don’t know what those two were talking about and no one will tell me what happened last night…” Nick confessed.

Sean wanted so much to close the blinds surrounding his office and to walk up to Nick and embrace him. He wanted to comfort his Grimm and take those hurt and confused feelings away. But he couldn’t do that, not with the way Nick was distancing himself a little from Sean. Instead he instructed for Nick to take a seat as he fiddled with this thumbs for a moment thinking, deciding whether or not to Show Nick the footage he took. As Nick sat there waiting for Sean to do something, say something, Captain Renard realized that he needed to show him the tape. This would bring Nick closer to Sean, where as his close knit friends refused to give him the insight he was desperately searching for during that night.

“I will show you part of what happened last night. But before I do…” Renard said coolly.

Nick couldn’t help the burst of excitement as his Captain revealed that he knew something about what had transpired the night he didn’t remember anything. Eagerly he stated, “What? I need to know what happened!”

Renard said with a deadpan voice, “First let me tell you what became of the Cracher-Mortel. After Baron Samedi had you under his control, my brother tried to fly you out of the country, masking you as a dead relative. Your…Grimmness made the effects of his poison change though. You gained the super strength of the regular Zombies, but you had your Grimm reflexes and skills added in. Also your abilities seemed to make it so the Wesen couldn’t control you…”

Nick leaned forward as he listened to his Captain continue his explanation.

“At the crash site we recovered three bodies and the coffin they kept you in. The coffin itself was in ruins, it seemed like you had… punched your way out of it. I’m assuming afterward Samedi confronted you and you snapped his neck.” Sean stated, watching for any reaction Nick would give him.

As Renard went through the events, Nick remembered bits and pieces of that incident. The blackness around him, punching through it, confronting a black man, and even how easy it was killing him; it came back in little flash backs. Nick asked, “The other two?”

Sean knew Nick was going to ask about the other two deaths that he might have caused, which is why he came totally prepared for this conversation. He had his contact in Venice research the two pilot’s on the plane and e-mail him the findings. Renard opened the locked drawer in his desk and pulled out two files, leaving the tape behind for a little while longer. He opened them in front of Nick and explained, “Both were Wesen, working for my brother. They were both murderers and a threat to anyone my brother deemed useless.”

Sean noticed Nick’s shoulders relax at the research, a weighed lifted from them. He knew all too well how much Nick needed to be the “good guy” in everything. This also meant that he was going to take this next part hard. Renard breathed in through his nose, his nostrils flaring a bit as he pulled out the tape and inserted it into a TV. he had situated in the room. As the film began, Sean walked over to Nick and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Remember, you didn’t have any control over your actions.” Sean forewarned.

Sean had seen the video countless times over the course of the night, where sleep eluded him; his worry for Nick chasing any remnants of sleep from his body. The blutbad never contacted Renard. He even expected some kind of information from Hank but that never came either. By the end of the video Nick was as still as a statue and Renard felt like if he were to remove his hand, that Nick would shatter into pieces. Again, that feeling of wanting to embrace the younger man seared through his whole body, making him tense and Sean felt his own traitorous hand slowly start to massage his Grimm’s shoulder.

The action seemed to rouse Nick from whatever thoughts were troubling him. Renard felt like he needed to reassure Nick as he stated, “What happened last night was like what happens when a Wesen Woges. Most people don’t remember or have any control over themselves like you.”

Nick was furious with what he did. The words his Captain were saying were true but- but he should have had more control! He was a Grim! One of the good guys… He wasn’t supposed to look control, he wasn’t supposed to kill without cause… A tear threatened to escape his eye as Nick shut them tightly. There was no way he would burst into tears in front of Captain Renard. Even if they weren’t friends Nick knew his Captain was not on of the enemies. The Grimm knew he could not afford to look weak in the eyes of his boss.

“I-I’m fine Sir-“ Nick stammered out before he was cut off.

“You’re not fine! Listen to me Nick…” Sean pleaded to his detective. Unconsciously he walked in front of Nick where he sat, head bowed.

Nick felt that itching in the back of his head, like a lost memory he couldn’t grasp. He heard what Renard was saying but it didn’t matter. He had killed an innocent. Vehemently, Nick shook his head, his eyes looking up towards his Captain. A sense of Deja’vu hit Nick as he looked on at Renard’s body, a powerful sense about him. However, he was too angry about what he had done to try and pin point the memory. Nick shot up out of his chair almost bumping into his Captain, a warm, almost hot feeling wafting off the larger man, as he retreated out of the office and he proceeded to leave the precinct. Where he was going Nick didn’t know. He knew he had to get out of there. Sure the Captain had done what Nick secretly wanted, Renard had shown parts of what had transpired that night where his friends had ignored his pleas. Before Nick knew it he found himself at his Aunt’s trailer, a place that felt more like home than the house he shared with Juliet these days. He unlocked the door and lay down on the musty old couch, a bout of exhaustion taking over his body.

~~~~

Sean watched Nick go, and he really wanted to chase after him but Renard knew his Grimm needed some alone time. The Captain walked out of the precinct and drove to his loft; finally the effects of staying up over the course of two days were catching up to him. He sauntered into his bed room, stripping off his jacket, unbuckled his weapon carrier, placing it on his nightstand. Sean then unbuttoned his shirt and kicked off his loafers. Sighing, Sean sat down in a chair next to his full length mirror and pulled off his socks, stretching his back as he bent over. Taking a deep breath, Renard stretched as he stood up, cracking his toes all the way up to his fingers which were stretched above his head.

“Nick…” Sean mumbled as he looked at himself in the mirror.

Sean sighed again as he removed himself from the line of sight of the mirror and laid down in his bed. Briefly, Sean thought about where his little detective was resting himself and a bit of anger came with the thought of Juliet comforting him. A rational thought blew that one away however, the fact that Sean had opened Nick’s eyes to his zombified actions. Where else could Nick have gone… The blutbad’s? No. Hanks? Maybe. But Nick would want to be alone… the trailer. He should really get some sleep, but the thought of Nick alone in that dank trailer urged him upward. Before he realized it, he was dressing in sweatpants and a t-shirt, his usual gym attire. If he was going to the Trailer he needed a cover story… went for a run in the forest to clear his mind, happened upon Nick’s car in a remote part of the forest, and happen to find the trailer in the process? It was a sound plan, he hoped.

~~~

The woods didn’t seem any less dense than when he was here the first time with his lock smith. Sean had run around the area to build up the light ring of sweat around his collar to make it seem like he was legit. He had to be all in in order to win his Grimm over. Renard jogged up to the door a rasped lightly against the metal frame. Sean waited for a minute or two and his patients started to wear and he knocked harder. When there was still no answer, Sean procured the spare key his wesen locksmith gave him and unlocked the door. His eyes scoped the small space and set upon Nick’s body, curled tightly in a ball under a ramshackle quilt. This was no way good for his overall health.

“Oh Nick…” Sean stated, his hand reaching out to stroke Nick’s chiseled cheek and jaw line. Nick’s skin was cool to the touch and a bit damp, not to mention this trailer wasn’t suitable for human habitation.

Sean picked his Grimm up into his arms and carried him out of the trailer and into the night towards his vehicle down the forest road. During the whole trip back to Sean’s apartment Nick didn’t budge, however he did seem to pick up a slight shiver. The doorman didn’t even bother to question Captain Renard as he carried the younger man to the elevator then into his loft. Immediately, Sean moved his detective to the bed and removed his shirt and shoes.

Captain Renard looked down at Nick and saw the sweat beading his skin. He walked into his kitchen and soaked a towel in hot water before making his way back into his room where his Grimm was still asleep the sweat rolling down his body. Cautiously, Sean ran the towel along Nick’s brow and along his cheek before skipping down to Nick’s chest. Nick’s chest was barely rising and falling and his complexion was greying out. Renard had heard about the Grimm’s side effects, but this was the first time he was witnessing it with his own eyes. He forwent the towel, now that it was cooled down by Nick’s skin and ran his fingers, feather light along the rapidly greying skin. As he continued to make his way down Nick’s body, Sean noticed the vein’s on the back of his hand twitch and slither like there were worm’s beneath his skin.

“Not now…” Sean whispered to himself as he tried to school his mind, trying desperately to lock his Zauberbiest behind bank vault doors. When he felt calmer and opened his eyes, Renard noticed Nick was wide eyed and staring at him.

“Captain..?” Nick asked as he blinked a few times.

“Nick! I-I mean Burkhardt! You should be resting! After your ordeal you needed a comfortable bed and climate controlled housing not some ramshackle trailer that should be quarantined!” Sean stammered out and cursed at himself inwardly at the use of his subordinate’s first name.

“H-How’d you find me?” Nick asked as he scooted himself more upright. It was strange seeing his Captain a little flustered. The man always radiated self-assurance.

Sean was glad he had his cover story prepared for this. If he had to come up with something on the spot, he knew Nick would sniff out the lie. “I was restless and decided to go out for a run. I got lost in my thoughts as I ran and ended up in the middle of the woods, before long I ran into your vehicle and saw the trailer.”

Even if he was tired and not feeling well, Nick still scrutinized every inch of Sean’s face, his skin still oddly colored, his breath still shallow. However, Renard didn’t give his detective an inch. Instead he drew upon the years of court experience he learned growing up and schooled his features. He tried to channel the presence he held the other night that made the zombie-fied Nick halt in his tracks for just long enough that Rosalee could inject Nick with the antitoxin. Satisfied with whatever Nick saw in Sean’s face, Nick noticeably relaxed, his very deep and intuitive eyes going softer. Sean looked into Nick’s blue/green eyes and found himself being drawn into them.

“Captain-“ Nick gasped, his skin returning to his natural colour as his arms snaked out either to discourage or to encourage Sean.

Sean felt Nick’s hands brush up against his shirt forcing Sean to close his eyes as his head turned upward. He needed to concentrate so his other half wouldn’t try to mess things up. It was hard though, keeping a lock and chain on himself. The situation didn’t improve any when Nick’s skin brushed Sean’s. His carefully crafted control shattered; Sean’s skin started itching and he felt his jaw hinge and unhinge as his Zauberbiest fought for control. A sober moment came over Sean and he pushed himself away from the bed, bringing his hand to cover up his face in a panic. Nick could not see this part of Sean, he wouldn’t allow it.

“E-Excuse me Ni-er, Burkhardt! You sleep here, I’ll- I’ll take the couch.” Sean stated through gritted teeth, still fighting for control from his Wesen side.

Nick didn’t understand what was happening. He was in someone’s apartment, but he wasn’t in control at the moment. At Marie’s trailer, Nick was emotionally distraught, and the condition of the trailer didn’t make it easy on his body. The combination of the two made Nick automatically slip into what everyone was calling his “Grimm Mode.” When he finally came to, his other self was admiring the person above him. At the moment he couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not, he couldn’t see the upturned face of the person above him but he could feel the warm muscled body beneath his hand. And then the warmth was gone.

Nick briefly heard what could have been his Captain’s voice saying something about a couch before sleep enveloped him.

Sean looked back over his shoulder, at the man in his bed and allowed a small smile to peek through. Nick Burkhardt, his detective, his Grimm, was deeply asleep, finally. Now Renard could follow suit on his almost equally as comfortable couch, well, it better have been for the amount of money he used to purchase the damn thing it should guarantee the level of comfy. Although right now it didn’t matter; Sean was content with the knowledge that Nick’s other self, his Grimm side, recognized Sean as being safe and that was a Win. All that was left was for Nick to realize it too but that would have to wait for the next day. Sleep edged Sean’s vision as he blinked slowly. Before long Sean was asleep himself, his dream’s full with the man in the other room.

~~~~

“Humm…” Nick mumbled as he ruffled around in the luxurious comforter-wait what?

Nick opened his eyes and looked around the room. The room itself was bare of personal effects and was militaristic in nature. Completely different from where Nick thought he went to sleep, Marie’s Trailer. He unwound himself from the confines of the bed and stood up on his bare feet. Nick stretched his arms above his head and crinkled his toes in the effort. Last night’s sleep was exactly what he needed after what he’s been through, now he just needed to find out where in the hell he was at. Nick walked slowly over to the door and opened it silently. He didn’t want to disturb the owner of the place, him being a guest and all. The apartment was just like the room, bare of any personal effects and exceptionally clean. It was a place he had been before, but he couldn’t recall from where.

“Hello..?” Nick asked gently into thin air. He wasn’t surprised when there was no answer.

The Grimm moved around the apartment silently until he heard a mumble, “My…Grimm…”

Nick turned around towards the couch and padded over towards the sound just as silent as if he was stalking a Wesen. When he got to the furniture, Nick peered around the cushions and saw his Captain. His arms were spread wide, one flung above his head the other across his bare stomach. Renard’s naturally tanned skin rose and fell in deep even breathes as the older man continued to sleep. Nick felt a red heat creep up his face before he turned away from his boss and shook his head lightly. He had seen plenty of men while he was at the academy, there was no reason he should be reacting the way he was at the sight of his Captain. Something deep inside of him respected the man but he didn’t know why. All he knew was that his Captain was the royal presiding over the Portland territory and he was half Zauberbiest which was the male equivalent to a Hexanbiest. With that thought, Nick’s mouth twitched downward with the malevolent thoughts that came with the mention of Hexanbiest.

Even if Nick knew that his Captain was a good person, he still needed to get out of there. It wouldn’t do if he accidently woke up his boss. Nick went back to the bedroom and dressed himself in the clothes that his boss- Nick’s face turned red again; at the thought of Captain Renard undressing him. He shook his head violently at the foreign emotion taking over his thoughts and then continued to get dressed. Nick then tiptoed back out of the room and looked back at his slumbering boss. Before he left the apartment, Nick brought up the sheet that the Captain had used to sleep under, taking note of the heat that was exuding from Renard.

“Sleep well, my Captain…” Nick stated in a low voice before leaving the apartment all together.

He dropped by the house he shared with Juliette and changed his clothes after taking a quick shower. It wasn’t long after his cell phone rang with Wu on the caller ID. Nick answered with a quick, “Burkhardt.”

“What you think you’re the Captain now? Just answer with your last name?” Wu said jokingly on the other end.

“What is it Wu?” Nick asked with a little bit of anger to his tone.

“Alright! Alright! Seesh! Take it easy there bud! Just called to tell you we got another weird one.” Wu explained.

“Where?” Nick asked as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door, not caring that Juliette wasn’t at home the entire time Nick was there.

~~~

 


	2. Alway's been watching you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically the El Cucuy Episode with some added parts!
> 
> Juliette is still perfect, Sean is still trying to find a way to get Nick on his side, Nick is trying to figure out his feelings towards Juliette and the beginings of feelings towards Renard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty everyone! A couple of things:
> 
> I'm taking a little more liberty with the series and insterting some of my own thoughts on how the characters act with them being Wesen.
> 
> Since Monroe's original explanation on what the Wesen part of a person actually was and how they had to fight for control made me think of it almost like a seperate personality than their own. One with its own agenda.
> 
> Also! I'm of the like-mind with some of the other fanfic writers who think that there has to be more to being a Royal than what the series has provided us with so far. So I am adding my interpretaion of the Royal part of Sean, or his Regeant side.
> 
> I am still sticking towards the story line a bit and adding some extras...
> 
> Still Beta myself so error's are my own!

Sean’s blood was boiling and he understood why. His dream was very…detailed. How did Renard know it was a dream? There was no way Nick would be doing anything in the scenario Sean’s Zauberbiest side had concocted. Physical contact and whispered nonsense was abound however, the thing that set Sean off the most were the words, “My Captain…” which echoed around him. Immediately Sean sat up from his prone position on the couch. Sweat dropped down his chin, fell onto his chest and slid down his skin.

“Nick..?” Sean gasped out as he searched his apartment frantically.

Sean didn’t sense his detective’s presence at all, which meant he had left. Renard removed the sheet that was covering him and went to look in the bedroom. The room itself was spotless, like no one had stayed in the room at all. It was nice of Nick to tidy up the room but Sean would have preferred a note or breakfast even… _No!_ Sean chastised himself, thinking like that would get him in trouble. Captain Renard sighed to himself and went to the bathroom where he continued to shower and change into his work clothes. It wouldn’t do if he decided not to show up to work today…

As soon as Renard walked through the doors he was assaulted by Wu who stated, “Drowning, Nick and Hank are already on their way.”

“Good. Keep me informed.” Sean stated as he made his way to his office.

There was other business he needed to attend to, like the rumors of a new royal baby. He could trust Nick to get the job done, and he had Hank as back up as well. Between the two of them the situation would get cleared up. Sean pulled out his secret cellphone from the hidden compartment in his desk and started making calls to his contacts in Europe. He tried to keep his mind focused but his thoughts always returned to Nick…who was now walking into the precinct.

~~~~

“There was this girl…who was more than a girl.” Nick explained.

“Round up the usual suspects...” Was all Captain Renard offered as a helping hand and Nick sighed inwardly.

Nick made his way to Monroe and Rosalee’s. Sometimes they were more useful than digging blindly through the books. When he was greeted at the door, Nick could hear the scuffling of boxes. Both of course were helpful, Nick managed to get a type of Wesen from the couple but his thoughts were elsewhere. The warmth that radiated off of his Captain while they walked through the precinct still lingered on him. Before he knew it, Nick had agreed to Monroe accompanying Hank and himself to the trailer to look into the “Naiad.”

More information was found in the books and was of little help towards the case, except for the fact that the Wesen weren’t capable of staying out of the water for prolonged periods of time. A call from Sergeant Wu let Nick know that they were able to track the survivor of the attacks phone to a marina which was more of a lead than where they were at. Nick grabbed his coat and motioned for Hank to follow as they made their way to where Wu was stationed at before they made their way down the pier.

~~~~

“-Not much choice…” Hank was saying to Sean and he didn’t bother with continuing to listen to the human detective. His thoughts were more preoccupied now with Adalind in Europe, a possible baby Royal, and how at ease Nick was, leaning against the table along the office wall. He kept his mouth in a thin line as he stole glances at the way Nick’s blue shirt had the top two buttons undone and how his forearms flexed supporting his weight. It took a moment before Sean keyed back into the conversation, “-know what happened and didn’t report it.”

“How long do they have?” Sean asked as he looked his Grimm straight in the eyes.

Sean was rewarded when Nick avoided the direct eye contact as he stated, “Doubt they would survive the night.”

“The sister?” Sean continued, when Nick finally held his gaze for a couple of heart beats; the smaller man’s light blue/green eyes meeting his own deep brown/green eyes.

“Can’t find her…” Nick stated, holding the eye contact a moment longer than he should. Why was he acting like this? With Hank in the same room no less!

Sean thought for a moment before he replied, “How do we explain two dead girls in our cells then?”

“Do we let them go?” Nick asked, letting his good natured-self show.

Sean hated what he was about to say and knew it would lose him some favor with Nick but they needed to catch the ones responsible for the death by any means. He very well couldn’t have rogue Wesen killing indiscriminately in his territory after all. He sighed and said, “No, this is their problem. If they want to die, let the ME explain it. Just because they're Wesen doesn’t mean they get special treatment.”

At the end of his statement, Sean saw the disapproving look Hank had and was about to gauge Nick’s reaction when there was a knock at his door, “Yeah?”

“Girls’ father is here…” Wu stated to the little group.

Sean sighed, “I know where this is going, you two go get his confession…”

Hank and Nick looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before going off to the interrogation room. Meanwhile Sean went to the room behind the two paned glass to witness it himself. The interrogation was going smoothly. Sean couldn’t help but admire Nick in his natural habitat. Before he was a Grimm, he was a damned good detective and it showed. Hank and Nick were rebounding off each other well, confusing the father as the elderly man fumbled through his own story. Even if they confused the father though, it didn’t matter. With a written confession there wasn’t much else that could break it unless he recanted it.

The two detectives exited the room and met with Sean right outside and Nick offered up a great idea about using the father’s confession to get the girl’s to talk. And it seemed to work as Hank and Nick said a few choice words to the two Naiad’s deliberately making them fight amongst themselves. They finally agreed to get the actual perpetrators but not before the brown haired girl pointed out Nick being a Grimm. Honestly, Sean was surprised that there were still Wesen in his Territory that didn’t know who Nick was.

Once again Captain Renard was behind the glass watching Nick and Hank get to the bottom of the situation. The little girl was definitely spilling everything she knew about the two boys who were the cause of this mess. Also she brought to light the traditions, albeit, old traditions that dated back to medieval times, of the Naiad’s. Conception by humans and then the Naiad’s mate would kill the human. _Pretty barbaric stuff_ , Sean thought. Then Burkhardt’s phone rang and Nick showed a pretty scared look to the mirror. Sean blessed off on Hank and Nick going to rescue the third daughter.

~~~~

The tires of the car came to a screeching halt as Nick jumped out of the vehicle, straight towards the docks where the two Naiad’s were about to mutilate one of their own. It only fueled the fire within him and Nick ran into the larger of the two boys, knocking him away from the girl who was lying down and being dragged under water. She wasn’t moving before the two had collided so Nick could only assume that she was unconscious which meant she could actually drown. Time was of the essence as he brawled with the bulkier assailant and Nick could admit that his attacks were a bit sloppy but before long the untutored kid was dazed lying on the docks ready for Hank to handcuff. There wasn’t much room for thought as Nick jumped into the cold water after the deaf girl.

There was hardly any light penetrating through the dense water as Nick swam through it, the cold not affecting him as much as he thought it would. His adrenaline must have been in high gear as he searched for clues as to where the Naiad had fallen into the water. Something was off though, as Nick stopped where he was swimming. He shook his head and he felt his eyebrows furrow as he scanned the depths. _You need me…_ the voice inside Nick’s head called out to him. Nick didn’t have time for this, instead of taking a backseat and letting the other part of him take over, Nick ignored the voice and continued searching the water’s floor.

 _I’ll allow you to use our power…_ Nick heard distantly. Just then he found a rope that was attached to an anchor, the opposite end fully erect. Nick followed the rope up and unknotted it from the girl's feet. Strangely he didn’t feel oxygen deprived or his muscles weren't aching from the effort of swimming fully clothed, in jeans nonetheless. That thought took a backburner though as he struggled with the rope and when it was finally freed, he swam to the surface with the unconscious Naiad in his arms. The surface broke as he brought the girl up and he heard his partner calling his name. Nick needed to make sure the girl was alright however as he handed her off to Hank. Hank pulled her up, the girl coughing and gasping for air. Nick pulled himself up and out of the water with ease, like he hadn’t just been under the water for… how long?

“I got the two boys handcuffed, how do you want to deal with them?” Hank asked, giving Nick a concerned look.

Nick didn’t know if Hank knew about his “Grimm Mode” or not, instead of explaining he replied, “Lock them up.”

“They won’t last long.” Hank rebuffed.

“They should have thought about that before they committed murder.” Nick stated matter-of-factly, the thought coming more from his other self.

Hank looked like he saw a ghost as he said, “You know how long you were under there? I thought you were dead… just about looked it too.”

Nick heard the fast approaching footsteps of the Naiad’s family and he had to turn off the Grimm portion of himself, or revert back to normal before they showed up. It wasn’t like Nick didn’t understand what Hank was saying, his complexion was death grey, his eyes a little blood shot, the fact that he was breathing normally after what he had just done; it was the effects of him using the inherited Grimm abilities. Honestly, Nick didn’t even know if he could flip it on and off like a switch. He figured that when he heard his heart beating in his ears that the death-like state and complexion were gone and he was back to normal. Nick handed off the girl to her family and proceeded to take the two culprits into custody. Captain Renard could figure out what he wanted to do with them.

~~~~

“Death of Royal…” Sean couldn’t believe his ears. His half-brother was dead… This meant that any one of the other nasty Royals would succeed the throne. At least with Eric, Sean knew where he stood, most of the time. All the others were twice, if not three times worse than him too.

Sean’s thoughts were interrupted as a knock on his office door made him shut his internet browser and state calmly, “Come in.”

“Captain,” Nick started and the title sent a shiver down Sean’s spine, an echo of what he heard in his dream the night prior.

Sean cleared his throat, he couldn't lose his control over his Zauberbiest as he said, “Detective Burkhardt, take a seat.”

Nick was a little taken back by the formal tone Renard was having with him but he would look into that at a later time, business first. He stated calmly, “We have the two Naiads’ who were responsible for the drowning…”

Nick continued to explain what happened on the dock but the words seemed to drown out as Sean focused on Nick’s lips moving. Thoughts of what they must feel like clouded his brain and it wasn’t until Nick repeated, “Captain?”

Sean straightened in his chair and used his brother’s death as an excuse, “Eric was assassinated.”

Nick stopped in his re-explanation and replied cautiously, “Eric… your half-brother who had me zombie-fied and tried to smuggle me across international waters as a corpse?”

Sean winced at that retelling of Nick’s personal meeting with him but he couldn’t deny it, “Yes.”

“Uhm, I’m sorry..?” Nick tried to sound sincere but he knew his boss could tell it was a lie.

“One of your redeeming qualities Nick is that you’re a terrible liar. One of the things I love about you…” Sean said and immediately tried to cover it up before Nick had enough time to reflect on what he just said, “You were saying about the Naiad’s?”

Sean breathed an internal sigh of relief when Nick didn’t catch what he had said and just retold the whole story. Once again however, Renard ended up tuning it out and just took the time to study Nick dressed in the police fitness jumper, the zipper down far enough to show a little bit of chest hair. He felt his veins start to throb and he immediately had to school his thoughts. Nick still wasn’t ready to embrace all of Sean, until then Sean would have to keep a tight grip on his control. When Nick finished the story and asked what Sean wanted to do about the Naiad’s, Renard sat there thinking.

“I’ll transfer them to a Wesen only Prison where they will have access to a cell with a water tank so they won’t die. As for you it seems like Hank doesn’t fully understand that you really aren’t human anymore. He just hasn’t come to terms with it yet.” Sean stated, looking into Nick’s eyes.

“I don’t really understand it either… Captain…” Nick said, averting his eyes as he said the title in a softer voice.

A new tremor ran up Sean’s spine with the way Nick called him Captain, he fought his Zauberbiest side with every bit of self-control he had. A forlorn look showed on Renard’s face while he thought of Nick’s possible reaction to a Woge in the middle of the precinct, he said, “Nick you should… go home. You’ve had a long night.”

Something within Nick wanted to go over to Sean and try to comfort him, even if it was his evil half-brother that died. The way that Sean looked like he was fighting to control something baited Nick even more. There wasn’t anything waiting for Nick at his house, he was getting a little bit tired of Juliette and her being perfect. It was starting to make Nick feel inferior to her even though he was the Grimm. Well not inferior but the way that she just accepted everything without an issue bugged him. Nick felt like he was waiting for the “other shoe” to drop and her to go on a homicidal rampage. That or because of Nick, she would die at the hands of some terrifying Wesen. Not for the first time, Nick was realizing that he should have listened to his aunt’s advice long ago about leaving Juliette.

“T-There’s nothing for me there…” Nick stated, his face downcast. He must have seemed pathetic and it physically hurt him to appear weak in front of his Captain.

Sean stood up and walked over to his detective and laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder. He said with a sincere smirk, “Well, I don’t expect you to tell me, but there’s always a place for you at my apartment. That is, if you don’t feel like going over to…Monroe’s was it?”

Nick picked up his head, his heart thudding a bit louder than he realized as he replied, “Are you sure? I don’t like to impose. As for Monroe, he’s currently preoccupied- no he has a full house with Rosalee being there.”

Sean smiled inwardly and removed his hand which was twitching slightly from the contact. Nick was dangerous indeed if Sean kept losing control of his Zauberbiest side. A calmer part of Sean thought, _maybe if Nick did stay, I could learn more control…_ That thought was from Sean’s Regnant side, the Royal part of him, but it was true. Renard couldn’t accept the part of him that alienated him from everyone around him. The Royal blood coursing through his veins was indeed a double edge sword, on one hand it gave him respect and power, on the other it caused his mother and himself an unending amount of verbal and sometimes physical torture from the True-Royals. Even now he has a target on his back because he’s a “possible” heir to the throne…

It had been awhile since the last time Sean had to invoke the Royal part of him, and now that it awakened itself, Sean could only imagine the war he was going to be fighting to keep hold of the reins in his mind. It was already stretching his limits trying to keep a leash on the Zauberbiest and now the Regeant wanted out. An interesting thing happened then however as Sean was contemplating what he should do, the Zauberbiest side’s influence was lessening. Was it because of the Royal portion of his mind had awakened? Renard would have to contemplate that at a later time; right now Nick was waiting for an answer to his question.

“O-Of course I am sure. This way I can help keep you safe and it will be easier to discuss Wesen business away from the Kehrseite.” Sean stated, and immediately he knew he spoke the wrong words.

Nick shot up, out of the chair, throwing Captain Renard’s hand off of him. Red hot fury coursed through his veins as he screamed out, “I’m not helpless! I don’t need you to protect me! Thank you for the offer but I’ll just go back to my _perfect_ girlfriend, no matter how much I hate it! I hate the fact that everyone thinks I’m weak!”

Sean stepped back, his hand still in front of him as he listened to Nick’s words. Of course he would take what Sean said the completely wrong way. It was too late now, there was nothing he could do to repair what little ground he had gained with his Grimm. Instead of fighting it Sean relaxed a little, which seemed to piss Nick off more, but Sean had to say, “I’m sorry I offended you Nick. That was not my intention. However, that offer still applies for when you need it. I will see you at work tomorrow. Have a good night.”

Nick was too furious to reply to Renard as he stomped heavy footed out of the office. He needed to cool down and he didn’t know how. _Find some Wesen to fight…_ the voice in the back of his head said. It was a tempting offer but Nick knew that was not going to end well. Walking into a fight pissed off would only leave him open for attack. No, he was going to do exactly what he told his boss. He was going to go back to the house and sleep the rage off. If Juliette was there… so be it, somehow she knew when to leave him be. She was after all the _perfect_ girlfriend.

~~~~

“Double Homicide.” Franco told Nick over the phone, it was enough of an excuse to leave his house with Juliette still pining over the email from his mother.

The scene was gruesome, and was definitely not a dog attack as the civilian said when he was questioned. There wasn’t any more information on the bodies that would tell Nick what had happened so he decided to venture over to the vehicle belonging to the deceased and was surprised to find wallets still in there. That wasn’t all he found though, two masks and a bag of money were found in the back seat. Nick laughed a bit and went to the mini market that was held up not 24 hours ago. The two dead were the ones on the security footage robbing the place but there were three other possible witnesses that night.

“Wu, see if you can find these… upstanding citizens and bring them in.” Nick stated as he left the market and headed for his own car.

Once at the precinct, Nick headed for his desk and opened up the police data base and started searching for the two dead robbers. It was a little bit of busy work while he waited for Sergeant Wu to round up the witnesses. It also allowed him to keep his mind off of Captain Renard and the events that occurred a couple of nights ago. There wasn’t a justification for how he treated his Captain after he had graciously offered Nick a place for him at his loft. It was more than Nick deserved, but that phrase, “I’ll protect you” just set him off. All common sense had left him and he just reacted like he would to anyone else who tried to protect him. Actually, the last person who protected him was Marie… and she ended up dying because of it. Since then Nick swore he wouldn’t need to rely on anyone, that he wouldn’t hinder anyone, that he wouldn’t need _protecting_ anymore.

“Witnesses are here.” Wu stated, rousing Nick from his thoughts.

After questioning the witnesses, Nick wasn’t any closer to finding the culprit. Most of the information that was given was useless. He learned two things, one was obvious, the market was near the bus stop. Anyone could figure that out. The other could be promising, some delinquent that fights dogs on the weekends. Nick would look into it once he got back to his desk. However, when he got there Renard was waiting for him. Straightening his back and bracing for anything, Nick stood in front of his boss.

“Captain?” Nick asked in a neutral tone.

Sean flinched inwardly at the business-like tone Nick was using. He had indeed lost everything he tried to gain in the last week with Nick. But that would have to be put aside for now, “Go ahead and leave for the day Detective Burkhardt. I’ll have other people continue the search on the dead and look over your notes on the witnesses.”

“Wait- What?” Nick didn’t quite understand what was going on. Why was Renard sending him home early?

“It’s paperwork and _research_.” Sean emphasized, trying to give a hidden meaning to his words. Now all Nick had to do was put his pride away and look into the subtext. Of course that wasn’t going to happen though…

“Whatever.” Nick stated in an angry tone and grabbed his coat. Since it was an order from his boss he had to agree with it.

Sean sighed as Nick walked away from him in a bad temper. Honestly he didn’t know why Juliette had called him to ask to let Nick go home early. She could have just called Nick directly but maybe she figured this would hurt Sean more, and it did. No, there was no way that Juliette could’ve figured out Sean’s feelings for his Grimm. Renard bit his lower lip in thought, there had to be a way to mend this bridge between Nick and himself.

“Burkhardt!” Sean called out after his detective but Nick just continued walking.

Sean sighed and ran after his detective. There was no need to cause any more of a scene in the middle of his place of business. Renard walked hastily after Nick, his longer stride allowing him to catch up to the Grimm in the parking garage. Sean reached out and grabbed Nick’s shoulder then spun him around so he could look into Nick’s face. Captain Renard should have known what was coming before it happened, but he was going to allow Nick this free hit. It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt though; Sean felt like he was hit by a ton of bricks to the side of his face. He even felt a bit of blood pool in his mouth from the hit.

“What are you smiling about?!” Nick asked as he stared at Sean, his anger was tangible.

“You are getting stronger…” Sean realized as he swished the blood around in his mouth before spitting it out onto the concrete floor.

Nick felt a warm heat creep up his cheeks from the fond look his Captain was giving him. It took him a moment to recover and when he did, Nick asked, “W-Why did you follow me?”

“You drove in with Hank today remember? Hank went to the bar after the interrogation. Unlike you, he was grateful to get off before 10pm.” Sean stated, as he walked over to his own vehicle.

“Wait, where are you going?” Nick asked.

“Giving you a ride home. Get in.” Sean stated as he clicked the unlock button on his key pad.

Nick knew his only other option was to call a cab. He knew Monroe would be busy with Rosalee and Hank was most likely already two or three pints into the night. There was the option to call Juliette but Nick couldn’t- no, he wouldn’t call her. It was another check mark on the perfect meter, her coming to pick him up when he was distressed. Nick really needed to stop relying on people, that or face the commuting traffic which was equally as painful. If there was anything that Nick hated more than seeming weak was rush hour traffic to and from work every day. The other part of him wanted to accept the ride from his Captain and Nick wanted to know why. He’s never gotten an idea of what his Grimm self wanted and this was an opportune moment to try and get more answers.

Nick felt like a petulant child as he scowled and grumbled, “Fine… T-Thank you…”

Sean shut the door and looked at his reluctant passenger and replied, “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“Thank you for the ride…” Nick said in a low voice, turning his head away from Renard so he wouldn’t see his flushed face. It was an interesting reaction; the other part of himself seemed to revere Captain Renard and the feelings seemed to bleed through towards his normal self.

“Speak up. I might have suffered some hearing loss from the punch you gave me.” Sean kidded around.

Nick turned towards his Captain and screamed, “Thank you!”

Sean jerked the wheel at the sudden release of passion from Nick and ended up skidding along someone else’s car. He immediately corrected himself and stopped the car for a moment to look at his Grimm. Nick had his head downcast and his hands were fumbling with the bottom of his button up shirt. Was he…nervous? There wasn’t anything Nick had to be nervous about. Sean was getting a little excited about the situation, or was it his Zauberbiest side that was happy to be in an enclosed space with the one man who was always on his mind?

“It’s no problem, I’m happy to do this for you.” Sean replied before putting the car back into drive and started for Nick’s house. Nick stared out of the window most of the time, the silence was starting to eat at Sean and he had to break it somehow so he decided to say, “Adalind is in Europe.”

Nick twitched at the mention of Adalind’s name and was about to say something until the the car stopped at his and Juliette’s house. Instead of saying something he might regret, Nick stated as he closed the door in a sincere voice, “I’ll see you at work tomorrow. Thank you again... Captain.”

Sean felt the Zauberbiest howl in victory as it managed to break the tight bindings of control Sean had in place for it. It had taken advantage of Sean’s reaction to Nick’s kind expression and thanks to severe the bindings. A wide smile made its way onto Sean’s face and he looked into his rear view mirror at himself. Just like the other times, along the left side of his face was the rotten-looking flesh that allowed Sean to unhinge his jaw, and then there was his right eye that was consumed by the same rotten flesh making it so he couldn’t open his eye lid. Renard completely understood why Normal people had an issue with this part of him, deep down, even Sean had reservations about unleashing this part of himself. There were some benefits, like increase sense of smell, increased strength, and some other abilities from legends- that he hadn’t been able to tap yet… or maybe he wasn't able to because he was a half breed.

It didn’t matter, all he could think about was Nick Burkhardt, _his_ detective, _his_ Grimm. Renard’s sensible part of himself was put on the back burner as Sean noticed his hand grip the door handle and slowly open the door. This wasn’t going to turn out well and try as he may, Sean couldn’t regain control. He must have looked like he was insane, how each step was staggered. If the Zauberbiest was going to try and disturb Nick, Sean could at least try to put up a fight no matter how futile it was. Renard-no, the Zauberbiest was on the porch now and Sean was no closer to regaining control than he was when he was in the car. As Sean watched his arm rise to the handle he was residing his fate to being powerless before his Zauberbiest side then the voice he was barely aware of interrupted his thoughts.

 _“Unleash me…”_ the voice said.

Sean didn’t have time to understand what was happening, whatever part of him this was; it had halted the Zuaberbiest’s movements. He would have to look into the matter in the future once he was away from this house and the Zauberbiest was safely chained by his own control again. The presence must have understood his agreement because all of a sudden Sean was looking at his human appearance in the reflection of the glass on the front door. But it wasn’t completely his human appearance. He noticed slight differences; like his eyes were a metallic copper and his skin was shimmering ever so slightly. Sean didn’t know what to make of it until he blinked and he was back to normal. Was it all an illusion? Was his psyche playing tricks on him? Those questions would have to wait until he was safely out of the area. Quickly he ran back to his vehicle and drove home where he would call his mother who would hopefully have some answers for him.

~~~~

Nick sighed in the passenger seat as Hank drove both of them to Ray Bolton’s house. His sleep was restless the night before. Juliette was at the computer, typing away, when Nick walked in. She was doing something that she always did, involving herself when she thought Nick wanted her help. Apparently Juliette went ahead and tracked his mother’s IP address and managed to find her… Communicate with her even. The crazy thing was that Nick didn’t even know how Juliette could track IP addresses. She was a Veterinarian for Pete’s sake! It didn't matter at the moment; as Nick entered the doors at work, Hank had told him that the two robbers were associates of Ray Bolton.

“We’re here…” Hank said, pulling the car to the curb and allowing Nick to exit first.

The two of them were greeted by loud barks from most likely abused dogs. Nick surveyed the neighborhood and it seemed like anyone he made eye contact with immediately turned away or went into their respective houses; except for one loud and obnoxious civilian. The boy must’ve been 20 or so and was there the night Nick and Hank investigated the robbery/homicide. Deliberately ignoring the young man, Nick walked up to Roy who happened to be sitting on his porch and looked back at Hank who gave a brisk nod.

“Roy Bolton?” Nick asked in a clear voice, over the loud barking of the animals.

Roy looked obstinate as he answered, “What of it?”

“There were some animal bite marks that closely resemble canine marks on two of your subordinates…” Nick said as he eyed the maltreated dogs.

“They ain’t do nothing!” Roy spat out, getting up from his porch.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if we get a swab of DNA from the mouths?” Nick sighed, he really didn’t want to get in a confrontation, nonetheless he nodded towards the animal control rep behind him.

“No way in hell are you getting anything from my dogs!” Roy spat as he shoved the animal control person away.

The physical contact wasn’t warranted and Nick acted before he even thought of the consequences as he walked up and shoved Roy right back. When the man staggered back Nick noticed him Woge into…something and he didn’t know what. Roy noticed Nick staring at him and stood where he was for all but a moment before he charged at Nick, screaming incoherently. The bastard even managed to land a hit on Nick’s face before Nick’s Grimm reflexes kicked in and he executed some move his body somehow found familiar which in the end had Roy on the ground, an arm behind his back. The whole situation moved fast for Nick, he was relying more on instinct rather than thinking.

“Striking an officer? You’re under arrest.” Nick stated as he pulled out his cuffs. He would have to make a visit to Monroe’s and Rosalee’s later to try and find out if Roy really was capable of killing his own henchmen.

~~~~

Sean watched Nick and Detective Griffin through the windows of his office. It may have been a football fields worth of space between him and his Grimm. He ended up leaving a message with his mother, which is how its always been. When she was safe she would give him a call back or even meet him if she didn’t have a tail. All he had to do was be patient and wait for her counsel on this other part of him he didn’t know. Renard wasn’t a stupid man; he figured it was the royal blood flowing through his veins, what he needed more information on was what this power entailed. He needed to know what tools were now at his disposal with this addition.

“Guess I should actually get some work done…” Sean said to his empty office as he pulled a pile of older case files that still needed some work done to them. Some of them were Wesen cases and Sean had to find a way to make the police work legitimate. This work kept him busy and it was all thanks to Nick. He didn’t dislike the caseloads, it helped him keep his territory in order from rampaging Wesen in the area. If said Wesen came to the conclusion that Nick was indeed working under Sean, all the better.

Captain Renard then noticed Nick walking angrily out of the precinct, Hank following in his footsteps. Something was irking his Detective and Sean could guess where the two were headed when they hit a dead end. Unfortunately it wasn’t to Sean who thought his advice was perfectly sound. No, they were headed to the Blutbad’s to try and figure things out. Sean sighed, he wanted to be more help to the detectives but they had to come on their own. He shook his head, there were other issues that had to be dealt with. Renard pushed aside the case files and opened a few files on his computer showing Adalind and the hotel pictures. Immediately he got his secret cellphone and started making calls.

~~~~

Nick knew he would probably get in trouble showing crime scene photos to not only Monroe, but Rosalee and Juliette too. He didn’t know why Juliette was even there, maybe she was talking to Monroe and Rosalee about Nick before he decided to stop by. It didn’t matter though, the job needed to come first. The group talked about the photos and how Nick saw Roy’s Woge and he was something between a Hundjäger and a Dämonfeuer. He even explained what happened when Nick saw his Woge. Rosalee confirmed Monroe’s thoughts on him being a Höllentier. It wasn’t long after that realization that both Nick and Hank’s cellphones rang detailing a new murder. The two detectives left the little group to their own devices and made their way to the new crime scene.

~~~~

“El What?” Nick asked the purposed victim.

The young woman repeated, “El Cucuy.”

“Is that even a Wesen?” Hank asked in a hushed tone to Nick.

“I’ll have to look in the books.” Nick whispered back to Hank, “Thank you for the information Ma’am.” Nick replied to the woman and left with Hank who in turn dropped him off at the house.

They said their good-byes and Nick headed inside where Juliette was of course waiting for him with a fresh cup of coffee next to her on the table. She doesn’t even drink coffee, so the drink was for him. Nick sighed and accepted the coffee with mixed feelings. Nick wondered if he should even bother asking Juliette about the Cucuy. Then again she most likely knew something about it. She knew everything. Nick took a seat at the kitchen table and waited until Juliette sat across from him. He then took a sip of coffee before he decided to ask.

“Have you heard of El Cucuy?” Nick really wasn’t expecting an answer as he sat there, taking another sip of the caffeinated beverage.

“That’s like a bogey man.” Juliette stated without flinching.

“Wait, What? How do you even-” Nick was shocked and wide-eyed that she knew something about it; she was after all, perfect.

“My grandmother used to tell me stories about how the Cucuy could hear the cries of desperate mothers who lost their children to evil. Basically convinced me be the good girl.” Juliette explained.

Nick sighed, there was no beating her. He stood up and stated, “Well, guess I’ll search for it in the books, I’m not even sure El Cucuy is even a Wesen.”

Before Nick even left the room he heard Juliette say, “There is someone else who might have information on it. But it’s too late now, we should head to bed.”

At the mention of bed, Nick’s body seemed to lose most of its energy. He agreed reluctantly and headed upstairs where he put on sweat pants and his academy t-shirt, his normal bed clothes. Juliette seemed to have an idea other than sleep however when she came out of their shared bathroom in skimpy lingerie. Nick sighed, he was actually too physically and mentally worn out to fool around tonight. Not to mention he just wasn’t physically attracted to Juliette at the moment. He apologized and faced away from her until he fell asleep with her disappointment radiating over towards his side of the bed.

In the morning Juliette did end up taking Nick to see some old Hispanic lady in or around the same neighborhood where the attacks were sited. She confirmed what Juliette had told Nick, except that it responds to the tears mothers cry for their lost children to evil. There were also some random remarks about appearance like yellow eyes, claws, and some foul smelling breath. Nick thanked the elder woman and ushered Juliette outside where he then proposed they go to the trailer to find out any information in the books. Once there they spent the rest of the day searching books upon books upon books but neither of them could find anything remotely like what everyone was saying El Cucuy was.

Juliette ended up just confirming Nick’s earlier speculation saying, “Maybe it isn’t a Wesen after all.”

~~~~

“No connection what-so-ever?” Captain Renard asked his detectives, mainly looking at Nick. It had been awhile since Nick had been in his office and the moment they shared in the car kept replaying in his mind.

Hank shook his head and replied, “No, this murder has no connection to the other two. We’re following dead-”

Right at that moment Sergeant Wu opened the door and stated, “There’s another person who exited the bus that night!”

Nick turned towards Wu and says, “Show us.”

Sergeant Wu did just that. He showed Nick, Hank, and Captain Renard to the viewing room where he showed the bus camera video. Renard was the one who said, “Mrs. Garcia… You two go talk to her again.”

“Yes Captain.” Nick stated as he and Hank left.

Sean sighed happily after hearing his title come from his Grimm’s lips. Wu looked at him questioningly and Sean stated in a monotone voice before leaving, “Don’t you have paperwork to file?”

Sergeant Wu stared after his boss and said in an equally as monotone voice, “So cruel Captain… no Thank you Wu for solving this case?”

~~~~

“Mrs. Garcia, can we talk to you for a moment?” Hank asked as the door to her apartment opened.

“Okay, why don’t you two young boys come inside for some tea and snacks then?” Mrs. Garcia stated as she turned around in the door way and shuffled all frail-like towards the kitchen.

“Actually Ma’am, can you come to the precinct with us? We would like to ask you our questions there.” Nick asked the elderly woman.

Mrs. Garcia turned around and smiled sweetly at them, her wrinkled face slightly upturning as she replied, “I suppose that would be fine. Let me grab my coat dears.”

 _There’s no way in hell this woman is involved in any of this_ , Nick thought to himself as Mrs. Garcia shuffled to their car.

~~~~

For the tenth time in the last ten minutes, Sean was wondering how things were going with Nick and Mrs. Garcia. A sound came from Sean’s computer indicating that he got a new email. Hoping to distract himself away from his Grimm, Renard opened the attached file and his eyes widened. They were medical charts; not just any charts but Ultrasound charts. At first he didn’t know why he was sent these until he saw the name. It was Adalind’s Ultrasound, showing that she was indeed pregnant. What’s more, there was a picture of Adalind entering then leaving the Clinic, with time stamps. If Sean wanted something to distract himself, this was definitely the way to do it. Sean was- Sean was a father…

~~~~

Nick kept looking in the rear view mirror at Mrs. Garcia. There was something off about the elderly woman but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Then Hank answered his phone, “Griffin.”

The conversation was short and Nick heard all of it with his enhanced hearing. Apparently that loud mouth kid went to Roy’s and was getting himself in trouble. Nick nodded towards Hank and then the car veered in a U-turn as they sped towards Roy Bolton’s house. The whole time their passanger hadn’t moved from her spot. She still looked the same as when they first questioned her…frail and innocent.

Once they reached the house, Nick jumped out of the vehicle and went towards the house where he saw multiple people ganging up on Florez. The kid was by himself but that didn’t stop the gangster’s from trying to pound him into the pavement. Nick screamed at them to stop what they were doing in which they did but Bolton just laughed and walked back into his house with his underlings tailing behind him. Hank arrived shortly after Nick started to help Florez off the ground. Between the two of them, well mostly for show since he could handle the young man’s weight himself, they walked their way to the car.

Hank was the first one to ask, “Where’s Mrs. Garcia?”

Nick looked up and noticed that the back door was open and Mrs. Garcia was nowhere to be found. Then multiple screams came from Bolton’s house. Hank and Nick turned back towards the house, Nick automatically let go of Florez, trusting Hank to pick up the dead weight and he did. Once inside the house, Nick saw the corpses of the two underlings in the parlor. He quickly un-holstered his weapon and crept through the house checking the doors and corridors around him until he heard Bolton’s scream from the kitchen.

“Bolton!” Nick screamed as he entered the kitchen but it was already too late. He didn’t properly prepare himself for what he saw either.

The Cucuy was holding Bolton’s corpse and when Nick trailed his weapon on the creature it looked at him and Woge’d back into Mrs. Garcia. She looked all innocent at Nick and said, “You’re a Grimm.”

Nick was beyond surprised that such a frail looking grandmother could harbor such a beast. He stated, “Mrs. Garcia you’re under arrest for the murder of…”

“Honestly? You think you have any proof I committed these atrocities?” Mrs. Garcia asked with a smile on her face.

“I’ve caught you literally red handed…” Nick stated as he looked at the clothes she was wearing, all covered in blood. It was something out of a nightmare scene. “We’ll have to take you in, you understand?”

“Okay.” Mrs. Garcia stated. She was still smiling innocently.

~~~~

 _It was defiantly an interesting case to say the least_ , Nick thought to himself as he put the case folder into the outbound box to be delivered to Captain Renard when he was ready for it. Nick looked around the precinct and realized he was the only one left from the day shift. Nick didn’t even realize what time it was. He was so wrapped up in the case that he didn’t even realize when Hank or Wu left for the evening. That or he was giving automatic responses while he thought about what he was going to do with himself. Mrs. Garcia was definitely a murderer but she had murdered bad people…

“What a complication…” Nick stated to no one in particular.

“What’s complicated?” Nick heard from behind him and nearly jumped out of his chair.

He spun around in his chair and came face to face with his Captain, Sean Renard. He answered, “Sir..?”

Sean quivered a little bit but he didn’t allow it to show as he said to his Detective, “Come to my office for a second…Nick?”

Nick gulped loudly as he watched his Captain walk back to his office. Was he really going to follow him? What could Renard want at this hour? _It could be just business_ , Nick thought to himself.

 _Then why the use of your first name?_ the other part of Nick mentioned in the back of his mind, almost like he wanted his Captain to call him by it.

Nick’s hand had a slight tremor to it; he wanted to go see his Captain in the privacy of his office. He got up from his desk and took a few cautionary steps towards his Captain’s throne room. It was an adequate analogy since Captain Renard issued orders and ensured the safety of Portland from that room. Why though; why would he feel anxious and eager to meet with Renard alone. There had been plenty of times they were alone together and he hadn’t quite felt this out of control of his own emotions. It reminded him of when he was under control of the puffer-fish Wesen. That’s right, the other part of Nick respected something inside Sean Renard.

“This is ridiculous…” Nick said as he gripped the handle to the office and hesitated for a moment. It was ridiculous that Nick was hesitating. He swallowed again and finally opened the door.

“Take a seat Nick.” Sean stated, his eyes never leaving the screen.

Nick walked over to the chair in front of the desk and sat down. He waited for Renard to say something but nothing happened. So Nick took this time to study his Captain because he wanted to understand his Grimm side more. Sean was indeed handsome, tall, tanned skin, and dark brown/green eyes. There had to be more to it though and Nick was determined to find out.

When the silence continued to stretch on, Nick asked, “Did you need something from me Captain?”

Sean took his eyes off the picture of Adalind and the ultrasound to gauge his Grimm. His eyes were earnest and something was definitely bothering him, maybe the fact that Mrs. Garcia disappeared after they were forced to let her go? There were three parts of him that were admiring Nick at the moment; his Zauberbiest side, his Regeant side, and even his human side. Although Sean didn’t know if he had started with a human side or if he had created it because the Regeant part of himself had only recently awakened. The Zauberbiest just wanted Nick for sex, which wasn’t anything new. His Regeant part wanted Nick to swear fealty to him which was par the course of a Royal. What did Sean want? He just wanted to be close to Nick and with what he had plannedfor the next month or so would put a whole continent and ocean between them. However, Sean wouldn’t tell Nick that tonight. There would be time tomorrow when Hank is there with him to show support.

Sean couldn’t keep Nick waiting like this, so he stated, “It wasn’t a complete loss tonight.”

“A murderer went free.” Nick replied.

“There’s your moral’s showing again…” Sean joked with his Grimm.

Nick turned away and blushed a little bit before he asked, “Anything else Cap-”

“You sleep well last night?” Sean interrupted Nick.

 _There’s no way he should know about that_ , Nick thought as he said aloud, “What gives you that impression?”

“It’s written all over your face.” Sean answered and then he couldn’t help himself as he added, “Not to mention the five pots of coffee you managed to consume. I hope you’re drinking a lot of water to balance out the dehydration.”

Nick felt his cheeks redden with the obvious answer staring at him in the face. He looked at Renard and asked, “You keeping an eye on me Captain?”

Renard smiled his lopsided smile towards Nick and replied sincerely, “I’ve always been watching you Nick…”

~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed as much as I did writing it! The Muses are still here somewhere, just gotta bait them with comments!! Comments are like chocolate for the imagination, it shows us that our readers really want us to continue! So comment please! and thank you for taking the time to read!


	3. Exorcism?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter follow's the episode of "Stories we tell our Children." But I think I ended up going more along the lines of Sean's POV for this Chapter because there had to be more that went on in Vienna right? Not Beta'd all errors are my own!

“I’ll be leaving for a while…” Sean told Detective Griffin and Nick. He then decided to add, “I won’t be reachable. If you get texts or emails claiming to be me they're fake. If for some reason you need to get intouch with me, go through Rosalee.”

“Wait- What?” Nick asked, clearly caught off guard. Just last night didn’t Renard say that he was always watching him?

Sean realized what this may have seemed like to his Grimm. All of a sudden he was leaving and without a reason. He would have to explain everything if… no, when he got back. Until then, Captain Renard would have to keep going forward, “If anyone asks where I’m going… Just tell them I’m enjoying myself in Tahiti.”

~~~~

_I wish I was in Tahiti…preferably with Nick in swimming trunks,_ Sean thought as he looked around the filthy basement. The trip to Vienna was sketchy at best. Fake ID’s, Lay Over’s, even disguises. All to make sure he landed properly and got in touch with Meisner. After a few hours of dodging any possible trail the two of them finally made it to the safe house. Now Sean had time to breathe without fear of the next moment. He stretched and looked at the resistance member. It had been a long time since he came across Meisner.

“How long has it been Meisner?” Sean asked as he sat down on a makeshift cot.

“A couple years before you left for the States I’d say…” Meisner answered.

Sean sighed; he was glad that it was Meisner that came as the representative from the resistance. Still though it was an interesting thought as Sean asked, “How long have you been with them…Martin?”

Meisner looked away from the Half Prince and decided to lean up against a pillar across from Sean. He crossed his arms over his chest and replied somberly, “Shortly after you left I think. After your mother took you… Court became unbearable.”

“I’m-I’m So-” Sean started to say before he was interrupted.

“Don’t. Please don’t.” Martin interrupted Renard. “I can’t go back there. I-I h-have someone now.”

The Zauberbiest part of Sean was dumbfounded; however he wasn’t relying on that side of himself. He said after a moment of clear thought, “You’re right,” he started and decided to hope for the future as he continued, “I have someone too.” He even allowed himself a small, sincere smile.

“We should try to get some amount of sleep while we can.” Martin stated, and just like that it was back to the business of survival while they were in Vienna.

“You’re right… See you in a couple hours.” Sean replied and tried to lay back to catch some elusive sleep. He wondered how Nick and Griffin were dealing with things back in Portland.

~~~~

“Did you just-” Nick asked Hank.

“Y-Yeah…” Hank replied.

Nick thought about it for a moment before saying, “It seems like he responds to actions that could harm him…”

“We should get a guard for the room then.” Hank put the idea out there.

“You’re right.” Nick stated and then continued, “Think I’m going to stop by Monroe’s, you in?”

Hank looked back at the hospital door concealing the boy form the world and stated, “Do I need to state the obvious?”

Several hours later Nick was walking out of Monroe’s and Rosalee’s place with a type of Wesen name that he needed to research more thoroughly. He said his farewell to Hank who went to the nearest bar most likely. _That would be nice, if I didn’t have to police the whole city on my own…I wish Captain Renard was back_ , Nick thought to himself as he was pulling up to the house he shared with Juliette, his passenger was an old book he found in the trailer. Nick was really hoping that she would be asleep but lately, lady luck hadn’t been on his side. He walked through the door and wasn’t surprised to see the dining room light glowing softly.

“You’re up late…” Nick offered in lieu of a normal greeting, a part of him felt like he was being a real bastard.

“I waited up for you to get home…” Juliette replied with a fond tone to her voice and she even offered a hot cup of coffee.

Nick accepted the mug and replied, “Sorry. This case is making me a little off kilter. A kid is most likely a Wesen who killed a priest when he tried to exorcise him.”

Juliette looked shocked as she asked, “An Exorcism? Really?”

“Monroe and Rosalee said he was most likely a Grausen. What’s worse is that if I don’t find out a way to help him, the Wesen Council will have the boy murdered.” Nick explained as he started flipping through the aged pages while taking a healthy gulp of coffee.

The book didn’t help matters much. Countless accounts of other Grimm’s running into the same problem throughout the centuries and all of them either killed the child or let the council deal with it since it “wasn’t their problem.” Then when Juliette started reading the 1920’s part she explained that the Grimm of that era found a Grausen in a hospital so it might have been a disease.

“That explains Daniel’s white blood cell count being high and his immune system was stressed. It all started a year ago…” Nick explained to Juliette.

“You need to talk to the parents and explain how this infection works. Try to get any information on what they were doing a year ago.” Juliette said, there was a fire in her eyes that Nick rarely saw; she wanted to help the boy.

“Err…what am I supposed to ask? Have did you run into any pathogens in the last year?” Nick asked a little irked about his lack of information on the subject.

“I’ll go with you!” Juliette offered and she seemed pumped up for the chance of helping.

Nick sighed into his cup of coffee, there was no helping it. Juliette knew more about medical science than he did. Reluctantly he said, “Alright, tomorrow. We have to get some sleep.”

~~~~

“Sean…” Nick moaned into Sean’s ear.

Sean shivered as he felt his Grimm’s hot breath race down his neck. He replied, “N-Nick w-what are you-”

His reply was cut off as he felt Nick’s tongue like molten lava trace a path from his ear down to his neck. What’s more was the fact that his Zauberbiest wasn’t activating at all. _M-Must be a dream…_ Sean thought as his body trembled all over. If it was a dream, Renard was planning on taking full advantage of it. He moved his hand up Nick’s bare skin, marveling in the heat of it; Sean's breathing coming in deep ragged breaths. Sean’s hand moved up to cup Dream-Nick’s face and back to rub it softly but was surprised when it made a creaking sound.

“What?” Sean whispered as he tried to rub Nick’s skin again, except the creaking sound came again.

Sean opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling of the safe house. The sounds were coming from the first floor, even dust was slipping through the cracks. Renard slowly got out of bed, thankful that he went to sleep still dressed, and walked over to where Meisner was sleeping. Carefully, Sean placed his hand over Martin’s mouth and gave him a gentle shake, arousing the man from his sleep. Sean brought up his finger, signing silence and then pointed up where the creaking came from. They walked towards the stairs and hid in a blind spot and waited. Sure enough, two Hundjager’s came down the stairs and fell on the missing step that Martin must have taken away before going to sleep. Sean always admired that about the man, Meisner always thought about survival first.

As it turned out the would-be assassins were working for the Verrat. They were easily dispatched, Meisner taking one and Sean taking the other. The two of them helped themselves to their rifles and looked around the cellar once more. Martin nodded silently and walked over to the trap door he showed Sean earlier that lead into the sewers. They were lucky that this place had a back door otherwise they were done for.

“A sewer though…” Renard stated as he stood his full height in the piping.

“Hey, Hey! It’s safe and it masks our scent.” Meisner explained as he continued walking through the sewer. Sean couldn’t help but watch Martin’s ass as he lead the way, past memories making themselves present even in this situation.

~~~~

“A flu… turned into that?!” Nick thought aloud and wasn’t surprised when Juliette answered.

“There was a colleague of mine in vet school who witnessed some of the same symptoms in horses when they stopped briefly in Jordan. She found protozoa similar to Toxoplasmosis.” Juliette explained.

Nick was afraid to ask but he did anyways, “What happened to the horses?”

Nick’s worry was definitely warranted when Juliette said with a sad face, “The horses were killed before any type of treatment could be done…”

Soon afterwards Nick’s cell phone rang and he assumed it was work as he answered, “Burkhardt.”

“Nick! We have trouble! I mean it was trouble we caused, but that’s beside the point. Wait, did I disturb you and Juliette? It is late at night after all. I know if I were called this late I would-”

Nick sighed, Monroe was always like this this, “Monroe! What did you call me for?”

“Right! Right! Sorry, I called you to tell you that the council is here and is headed for Daniel’s room at the hospital.” Monroe stated in a hurry.

“What?!” Nick screamed into the receiver.

“W-We didn’t have a choice! They would have killed us!!” Monroe stated and when Nick didn’t say anything Monroe continued, “I’ll come with you since this is all our fault! I could even identify the council member for you-”

Nick thought about that and realized it was a terrible idea. He said to his friend on the other receiver, “No, you don’t need to jeopardize Rosalee and yourself. Make sure you two keep safe, I’ll call Hank and head over to the Hospital. Don’t worry, everything will work out, somehow.”

~~~~

It felt like Sean’s nose was going to melt off his face. The scent from the sewage burned his nose hairs, but it was worth the pain if Martin and himself were safe from gun fire. They seemed to walk through the sewer through the night. The evidence was evident when Meisner opened a door, sunlight cut through the darkness, temporarily blinding the two men. When their eyes adjusted Miesner pulled out his cellphone.

Sean saw the phone and made a quick grab at it, “We tried your contacts. Now we’ll use mine.”

Miesner looked at his cellphone and wished that Renard wouldn’t open the device and see his phone screen. Although he wasn’t expecting Sean to throw his phone into the water either! Martin looked at Sean and sighed before saying, “Okay, we’ll do it your way this time.”

~~~~

Nick looked at the council member sitting in front of him in the interrogation room at the police station. The Pflichttreue showed no sign of distress sitting across from a Grimm. Nick played with the folder under his hands for a moment hoping that he would be able to change the mind of this old time thinker about Daniel. He was lucky the Captain wasn’t here at this time since he was using the interrogation room for his own business. Just to be safe, Hank was in the mirror room making sure no one overheard their conversation. After the parasite died while Daniel was on the verge of hypothermia the boy was completely healthy. Now all he had to do was convince Alexander that the boy was cured and intern allow him to inform their leader.

“It wasn’t possession by a demon or a mutation.” Nick started as he tossed the folder in front of Alexander before he continued, “Daniel is cured.”

The council member looked over Nick’s evidence without so much as a flinch. Alexander closed the folder and looked squarely at Nick and said, “You’re a Grimm, you should know better. I need to see the boy.”

“This is all you’re getting. You can take my word for it…” Nick stated and was glad Monroe had explained what he was about to say next to him before this meeting, “Because of the Charter of Wittenberg in 1682 that was signed by the council and my ancestors. Take this report with you when you leave so your bosses will understand.”

Finally Nick saw an emotion come out of Alexander. He said with a shocked look on his face, “Y-You’re letting me go?”

“I’d like to think we live in a new age where fear does not drive belief.” Nick stated before leaving the room. There was something else he needed to do and he hated to ask, but he needed Juliette’s help with it.

Later that night, Nick found himself at the writing desk inside the trailer with Juliette right behind him. He stated out loud, “Upon further research the so called “Grausen” is actually a parasite known as Daemoni ad, ad-”

“A-d-s-p-i-c-i-o. Daemoni Adspicio.” Juliette laughed from behind Nick.

Nick shuttered a little bit at the laughter as he continued, “Daemoni Adspicio which no longer could survive in the infected host once the host slipped into hyperthermia.”

Nick was lying in bed wondering for at least the seventeenth time today how his Captain was doing on his so-called vacation. The time Sean had told both Hank and Nick about his trip Nick knew it wasn’t an actual vacation just from the way Renard was acting towards them. Then he would have to be a complete idiot if he didn’t pay attention to when he said that if they needed to contact him to go through Rosalee. That meant Sean was somewhere in Europe with Council members. There was the fact that Sean’s Half brother was killed too, which meant Sean was in fact in Vienna with Council members… An uneasy feeling coursed through Nick’s body at the thought of Captain Renard being back in Vienna where the other Royals were.

Nick found it strange that he was thinking of Sean at a time like this, that he even found himself worrying about his boss the way he was. What Sean stated the night before he left for Vienna still sent chills down his spine; _I’ve always been watching you_. It definitely rang true since his Captain scouted him right out of the Academy. Since then Captain Renard has had his back on multiple occasions and guided him when Nick felt a little lost. Without realizing it Sean Renard had indeed been watching out for him his whole career. Nick closed his eyes slowly, sleep coming easily to him as he thought of Captain Renard, his boss, Sean…

~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Appriciate all comments ^.^


	4. Dēcapitāre, I like that...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo! In this chapter I focused more on Vienna, again. Except this time i created a back story between Martin Meisner and Sean. It seemed to casual when Meisner picked Sean up from the airport which meant they must have met before.... This story is not Beta'd. All errors are my own!

“So, tell me about him?” Sean asked in gentle conversation towards his temporary companion.

Meisner was so thrown back by the sudden start of a conversation that he answered, “W-Who?”

Renard gave off a lazy, lop-sided smile as he stated, “You’re “someone” I suspected it was a boyfriend, or maybe you have a girlfriend now?”

Sean was rewarded when Meisner gave a full on red faced blush. It was impressive when Sean could see it through Martin’s striking facial hair. Renard kept pestering him, he hadn’t felt this light hearted since before his mother took him away from Court. He continued to say, “Come on! Tell me! We were once-”

Sean’s interrogation was cut off as one of his early warning systems went off. Silently Sean looked seriously at Meisner who nodded quickly and slipped out another door. The assault rifle Sean had leaning against the wall found its way into his hand and he stood next to the door and waited patiently. There was only one person who should know of this location and that was Sebastien; Sean’s longest and most loyal contact. Honestly Sean found him closer to a family member than he did any of his Royal kin. However Sean couldn’t risk the chance that Sebastien might have been killed on his way to him or that he could possibly have been compromised. The entrance to the warehouse creaked open, giving Sean enough time to raise his rifle towards the head of whoever entered.

“It’s me.” Sebastien said in French; a bit of fear in his eyes.

Sean smirked and kept the gun pointed at him, he had to make sure Sebastien wasn’t followed. To fill the gap in waiting by replying back in French, “It’s me too.”

Just then Meisner came in behind Sebastien and stated in his German accent, “He’s alone…”

Sean debated for a couple of heart beats before he finally lowered his weapon and grabbed the supplies from his friend. He walked further into the warehouse saying, “I would have regretted shooting you my friend, unless you were the one who set us up at the previous hideout.”

“It was the Verrat who tried to kill us…” Martin added in as he followed Sean.

“W-Who knew you were there?” Sebastien asked as he motioned with his hands his confusion. He added, “I didn’t! You made the arrangements Meisner.”

Meisner didn’t flinch when Sebastien called him out. He answered while staring down Sebastien, “I used Breslau.”

“Breslau? You certain?” Sebastien turned away from Sean and looked at Meisner.

Sean watched the exchange with interest as he pulled out a drink from the bag. When Sebastien asked if they were sure Breslau was used Sean spoke up, “We aren’t really sure of anything at the moment…”

Sean enjoyed the fact that Martin was having trouble keeping his eyes off of him. The attention roused interest in his Zauberbiest side and Sean actually thought about trying to pursue it until Sebastien stated, “Viktor arrived two days ago.”

“Really? Viktor is here?” Sean stated with a surprised look. Viktor was a mystery compared to Eric.

“He’s due to take your brother’s place…” Sebastian explained.

Sean sighed and shook his head as he replied, “I don’t know much about him except that Eric didn’t trust him. Could be good, could be bad…”

“We know that he is determined to find your brother’s killer.” Sebastien said, Meisner was giving the informant a suspicious look as he continued, “We need to get you to a safer place.”

Sean shot that motion down as soon as it was offered by saying, “No. No more safe places. This warehouse will do fine. Where’s the meeting?”

“I-I don’t know where, but I do have a time…” Sebastien stated.

“Oh that’s helpful.” Martin stated while rolling his eyes. That caused Sean to give a light hearted smile despite the situation.

Sebastien continued as if Meisner said nothing, “Midnight tomorrow. Frenay and Tavitian will be there. Tavitian wants to meet with you.”

Sean thought about that comment and chewed on his bottom lip. It was a habit he thought he had broken when he started living in the States. Meisner knew of the habit since the two practically lived together while Sean was at Court. It was one of the _cute_ things that Martin had a knack for pointing out. It had been years since Meisner had told Sean about his _cute_ habits and Sean fortunately forgot most of them until this moment one managed to come out. The fact that Martin was looking at him and smirking towards Sean seemed to make matters a little worse.

Sean was taken aback a little when Sebastien continued talking, “Eric’s death has caused a lot of speculation.” Sebastien then had the gusto to motion towards Meisner as he said, “Some even think he(Tavitian) was involved.”

Martin looked toward Sean and stated, “That won’t hurt his reputation.”

“Tavitian doesn’t need any help from us.” Sean said as he took another swig of his drink.

Martin shrugged and walked over to the bag of “supplies” and looked in it. As long as they were staying in the warehouse Sean figured Meisner was going to ask for more stuff. His hunch was correct as Martin said, “I’ll need some food and more ammunition…” Then he walked out of the room, presumably to do a quick patrol and then grab some food from somewhere before they called it a night.

“Right, I’ll be back to pick you two up tomorrow.” Sebastien stated before he bowed out.

“Thank you my friend. Make sure to watch you’re back.” Sean gave as a parting.

Sean was alone for the moment while Martin continued his errands and he took advantage of it. He relaxed on another make shift cot and thought about Portland. Renard allowed himself to wonder how Nick was doing. His eyelids slowly closed and before long Sean found himself dreaming. This time he was in his loft back in Portland, in his large, comfy, and expensive bed; between his silk sheets. He rolled over and bumped into something. Tentatively, Sean’s hand explored the other side of the bed and came upon smooth warm flesh. Instantly, Sean shot upright in his dream and threw back the covers and sheets to expose who was in the bed with him. It…wasn’t just one person.

Nick’s face rolled over and he yawned sleepily at Sean before he said, “What’dya do that for?”

The second voice rank out in a German accent, “Yeah Sean….Now we are freezing.”

Sean had no words for what his brain- no, it was a fantasy made by his Zauberbiest. Both men rolled over and onto Sean where they started laughing softly as they wrestled playfully with the Police Captain. Renard didn’t have the presence of mind to put up any resistance as Nick restrained his right arm and Martin his left. The next thing Sean felt was an assault of two tongues down each side of his neck. The pleasure shot through Sean like jumping into a too hot bath but soothing into it after the initial shock.

“W-Wha-” Sean tried to say as Dream-Nick’s presumably soft lips breathed feather light kisses along his collar bone towards his chest and on the opposite side Dream-Martin was lightly nibbling the same path.

The two met each other on Sean’s septum and looked at one another briefly before the Zauberbiest did something rather…hot, if Sean had to be completely honest with himself. Their eyes met as their faces came closer together right in front of Sean. Inches shrunk into centimeters as Sean found himself wanting to see it…wanting to see the two of them kiss. And it happened, their lips collided ever so slightly, experimentally at first but it soon grew into something passionate. Both men didn’t completely ignore Sean however, they dropped slowly onto Sean’s abdomen and headed further south.

“M-Martin….N-Nick-” Sean gasped out and he was surprised as both Martin and Nick heads shot up and both of their voices were monotone and sounded like just Meisner.

“Sean?” They said in unison.

Sean opened his eyes and was looking up into Martin’s blue eyes, inches away from his face. The two of them hadn’t been this close in years, unless you count the dream his Zauberbiest concocted. Renard felt his pulse run a little faster and his face start to redden from images of his dream. Martin seemed to notice and his own face start to flush as he slowly backed up giving Sean a little space.

Martin stated as if his face wasn’t all flushed, “Sean you, well you called out my name and “Nick”?”

“I-It was a dream…” Sean stammered out, his hand going up to cover his face, which of course was covered in sweat.

“You had time to sleep?” Martin asked sounding more like himself and a bit jealous as he walked over to his own makeshift sleeping arrangements.

“How long were you gone?” Sean asked as he sat up completely and drank more water.

Martin sat down and removed his shirt, his well-cut muscles bunching as he removed his shoes. He answered, “About 4 hours… you mind taking the next watch? I might as well try to get some sleep too before we have the meeting tomorrow.”

Sean had a hard time removing his gaze from his childhood friend. It had indeed been years since he last saw Martin and the evidence was in the hard lines and muscles on his body. Being part of the Resistance and staying in Vienna was a death sentence to any normal Wesen. Yet here was Meisner, unlacing his boots without a care in the world. Sean knew he had to keep his old friend safe while he caught up on some sleep. He stood up and grabbed the rifle leaning against his “bed” and looked back at Martin.

“Get well rested Martin. I will patrol and keep watch.” Sean explained as he tried to avert his eyes from Meisner’s sculpted chest a sparse chest hair and was finding it hard to do.

Meisner smirked cockily and stated, “You better go then… Prince.”

Sean shivered. He had absolutely no designs to the throne but when that title was uttered from Meisner’s mouth it had almost the same effect as Nick calling him Captain. Sean shuttered and turned away from the man and said before he exited through the door, “Sleep well.”

Once Sean was outside his mind cleared a bit, even his Regnant side was swayed by the man. He would do to be careful with his Wesen half's while he was in Vienna. He said to no one in particular, “I wonder how Nick’s been doing…”

~~~~

“A Gelum-m-m” Nick tried pronouncing the name of the new Wesen and failed.

Nick heard Monroe sigh a restated, “Gelumcaedus. You should go to the trailer to get some books and bring them back here. We can look over them during dinner! You can even bring Juliette!”

Nick twitched at the mention of bringing Juliette with him for dinner at Monroe’s but he had to be realistic. There was potentially tons of books that could reference the Gelumcaedus and most likely in different languages….including Spanish. He actually had run into countless books with passages in other languages like Romanian, Spanish, and mostly, German. Nick sighed and nodded towards Monroe; he would bite the bullet and bring her along. Once again he was feeling like a bastard and Marie had taught him better but-but….

Nick was outside in the cold November evening and looked up at the stars asking, “How are you fairing…my Captain?”

~~~~

Sean was sitting on his cot when a sneeze abruptly left his mouth. It was a light sneeze that didn’t wake up his charge which was just fine. _Maybe someone was thinking about him?_ Sean thought as his eyes drifted back to Meisner who was still fast asleep. The rise and fall of his chest seemed to mesmerize him. He almost didn’t hear the door open and Sebastien walk in. Meisner shot up, rifle in hand pointed at the messenger. Sean lazily looked over at Sebastien who was carrying some extra rifles himself and another bag of food.

“Frenay wants you two at the meeting, but we have to leave now.” Sebastien stated in lieu of a proper greeting.

Sean understood the urgency and grabbed the few things he brought. He tossed a sandwich towards Martin who finished getting dressed and had his own pack in his hand. Meisner caught the sandwich and ate it quickly so he could grab his own rifle before the little group headed outside to their next destination. This would be the first time Sean would have been to a meeting set up by the Resistance. He never got in their way and they never got in his. It was a situation both sides were aware of and now one of its leaders was willing to speak to Sean.

Sean nodded towards Meisner and said, “Let’s not keep the man waiting.” In the back of his mind he was wondering if Nick would approve of his actions or not…

~~~~

“Fine, I’ll wear it in honor of my ancestors.” Nick stated as he looked at the ancient wrist cuff. When the vambrace was on correctly there was a hidden catch which released a wicked looking blade. The device made Nick feel closer to his ancestry even his Grimm self was radiating with a revered like sense. Hank wanted to stick with a rifle but Nick was more than happy, jittery even that he was going to be in melee range of the Wesen. It was a strange feeling that he hadn’t felt except when he actually got into the middle of a fist fight and Nick suspected his Grimmness was effecting him but he didn’t care. There were already several deaths caused by this criminal, so his future actions were definately warranted.

Once again Hank put on camphor ointment to protect his sense of smell. Nick refused to use the stuff, his sense of smell was too powerful and the scent of the ointment irked him. He would just have to deal with the sewage. The map they managed to snag from the B.E.S. Company was definitely helpful as they navigated through the underground with ease. Then Nick heard footsteps. Hank was saying something but Nick put his hand up and motioned for him to be quiet.

“I hear footsteps…” Nick explained before he started to run towards the sound. Hank called after him but Nick didn’t stop until he heard one maybe two other sets of steps resounding off the walls. He said, “There’s more now, two or three different places…”

“Could be echoes from the tunnels?” Hank offered before asking, “Which way should we go?”

“Let’s try to find our way back and start afresh…” Nick stated and as they worked their way back he heard ticking. He stopped Hank again.

“What is it? What do you hear?” Hank asked still a little taken back by Nick’s super human abilities.

“Ticking, lots of ticking. Follow me!” Nick stated and ran towards the curious sound.

The two of them came across a box full of clocks and then there were others filled with more random junk. The Gelumcaedus must have been collecting the stuff from all over the States. With all the noise going on around him, Nick failed to hear the Wesen come from behind Hank and Nick. However, he noticed when Hank got thrown into a nearby shelf.

“Hank!” Nick screamed as his body kicked into autopilot and he charged the Wesen in front of him. It did him little good however as the Gelumcaedus saw it coming and bite down hard on Nick’s arm. The vambrace proved its worth as Nick felt absolutely no pressure against his forearm. Without missing a beat the Wesen picked Nick up and threw him onto the ground. And then before he could attack Nick again, Hank managed to get up and head-butt the Gelumcaedus with the back of his rifle Nick stood up and went next to his partner.

“Don’t move.” Hank stated as he cocked his rifle.

The Gelumcaedus woged back to his human form and Nick wasn’t quite surprised when it turned out to be Gregorek. The man snarled, “Dēcapitāre!”

~~~~

Sean, Martin, and Sebastien rolled up to the meeting place. The Police Captain was suspecting to see some run down, out in the middle of nowhere, little hovel type place instead they came upon a lush estate with a large mansion waiting for them. Sebastien put the car in park and both Meisner and Sean exited the vehicle. Guards with semi-automatic weapons met them as Martin greeted one of them by name.

Sean understood a little of it, he was more proficient in Romanian than he was German. Something about being alive, and taking the car. Then Martin asked if something began, and all Sean could think the two were talking about the meeting. He managed to catch another phrase about a delay.

“By what?” Sean interrupted the two’s exchange.

Franz looked at Sean with serious eyes stating, “A trial.”

At the end of the statement a man’s scream rang throughout the property. Sean stated in a neutral tone, “Sounds like they reached a verdict.”

Franz walked the group towards the back of the house, Sebastien trailed a little behind Sean and Meisner, checking his cellphone every now and then. Martin continued to scope the surrounding area, even when Sean walked close enough to bump their hands. Their little messenger was too distracted to notice and Franz was in front of them. Meisner looked up into Sean’s eyes, something was there…regret? Sean would have to look into it further, when they suddenly came upon a red barn where the screams seemed to originate. The doors opened automatically and Martin took the lead, breaking the small eye contact.

Sean gave out a small sigh and went back to business and asked, “Who is that?”

Martin was using his business voice, cutting off everything they talked about when they were alone in the basement and the warehouse. He had to look his strongest in this environment as he stated, “Breslau… the one who set us up.”

Sean heard a voice who must have been Frenay due to the authority behind the words, say, “Constantine, I don’t understand… why you would betray us… The resistance protected you, supported you… What’s her name?!”

Sean didn’t like how this man acted and he was sure it showed all over his face. Martin seemed to notice and bumped shoulders with Sean, knocking him out of his ill thoughts, just in time for Breslau to say between gasps, “Y-You…will kill…her.”

“You are my friend…. And I do not wish to see you suffer…” The words practically oozed from Frenay’s mouth and Sean up turned the corner of his lip in disgust. The slim ball continued flapping his lips, “Any more than you have to. Afterall, you didn’t know she was working for the Royals…” Frenay finished the sentence in a whisper, “But you should have.”

Breslau was pretty much completely gone mentally. All he could manage in response was unintelligent murmurs. Frenay got up from his seat and took a step toward Breslau and leaned in close so the captive man could presumably whisper the name of the woman who ratted out Sean and Martin’s location. Sean heard a snicker come from the interrogator and then he turned around and walked towards Sean and Martin. There was a pompous look on his face and Sean wanted nothing more than to punch it off of the man, even if Breslau betrayed them, there was no need to enjoy torturing someone like this, Frenay seemed to.

“Breslau betrayed us all.” Frenay stated as a gun clicked from somewhere behind the man. He handed Martin the gun and asked, “You want one of us to do it?”

Sean looked at Martin’s back with its tightened muscles; Meisner had just as much trouble holding himself back from the torture scene as Sean did. Sean knew that Martin was going to accept the offered gun just to end Breslau’s suffering quicker than if it was left to someone else. He said while eyeing Breslau, “No.”

Frenay just said with a thin line on his lips, “mm-hmm…” Sean could tell the man wanted to torture the prisoner more. Sean’s control was string thin as he continued to be idle in the room. He wanted- no he needed to hit Frenay… Sean felt a small frail hand on his wrist and he cast a look behind him and saw Sebastien shake his head ever so slightly. Sebastien even knew how on edge Sean was and he had to calm down in order to promote this possible friendship with Tavitian.

Martin gave a curt nod towards Sean before he exited the building with Breslau. Frenay walked towards Sean and stated, “And you are Sean Renard.”

Sean looked at the man and couldn’t believe that he had saved his mother's life… Nonetheless he had to hide his ill thoughts and act, for lack of a better word, princely. He stated, “And you are Claude Frenay. You saved my mother’s life once,” He stated and extended a hand in greeting.

Frenay accepted the handshake; Sean made a mental note to wash it later, and said, “I was well-rewarded… Glad to have you with us.”

Sean threw out a fake smile as he looked the torturer in the face. All he really wanted to do was meet Tavitian. His thoughts were interrupted as the gunshot rang through the grounds, making Sean jump a little. He knew he was going to pay for that little show of weakness later. Sean's head turned back towards the door slightly, his mind wondering how Martin was doing before he turned back towards Frenay. The man had calculating eyes and showed no remorse for what he did towards Breslau. Sean’s Regnant side knew that the torture was necessary, to get information but his human side, which he thought was heavily influenced by his Grimm thought that there could have been other ways to get the truth.

He stated with that fake smile and with extreme caution, “Me too…”

Frenay didn’t miss a beat as he said, “We will begin as soon as Tavitian arrives…” He walked past Sean and said jubilantly, “Come! Food and drink up at the house!”

Sean stayed for a moment longer as a couple of the men walked outside before him. Slowly he relaxed his hand and looked around the floor at the blood and shivered slightly. He furled and unfurled his hand and rubbed his fingers against his palm. Sean could feel the crescent moon indents that his own finger nails caused as he fought to control his emotions. It had been a long time since he was in Court and if he wanted to survive this time, he would have to learn more control. A hand grasped his shoulder and Sean jumped a little bit before he turned around and saw Martin standing there, his light blue eyes distant like he had mentally checked out for the shooting. After all this was over, Sean had it in his mind to invite Martin back to Portland with him. He couldn’t bear to see Meisner like this ever again.

~~~~

“The time stamps don’t add up.” Nick stated over the phone to his partner.

“There could be another Gelumcaedus out there?” Hank said into the receiver, and Nick could hear the sigh in his voice.

“There could be… you going to be up for a while?” Nick asked.

Hank stated in a tired voice, “I will be now…”

“Okay, well I’m going to check things out here; I’ll meet you at your place if I find something.” Nick stated and then hung up.

Nick quickly printed out the files and jumped into his car. It had been a while since he last drove it as he put the vehicle in drive and made his way to Hank’s. The street lights were bright and it was late enough for no traffic as Nick pulled up to Hank’s vehicle. It was strange seeing the lights off in the house, Nick thought as he walked up to the porch and knocked heavily onto the door.

“Hank it’s me!” Nick called out, turning around to survey the neighborhood.

Just as his police sense was saying something was wrong, Nick’s cellphone rang out. Nick recognized Hank number as he answered, “Hey! I’m outside, open the door!”

A strange voice replied on the other side of the line, “Bring Gregorek to me and you get your partner back… If not, you’ll find pieces of him in the river.”

Nick’s stomach plummeted as he thought of Hank being kidnapped. He looked around the neighborhood again and felt sort of helpless in this situation. Police instincts kicked in, telling him to check to make sure the hostage was still alive, as he said, “Let me talk to him.”

The man ignored Nick’s request and stated, “The Sheridan Outfall. Anyone comes with you, he dies.”

Nick was getting anxious as he stated again, “I want to talk to Hank!”

The phone line went dead. Nick let out a curse as he stormed back to the precinct and headed straight for the holding cells. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Gregorek. Was he really going along with this farce? _It was Hank_ , his mind said. Even his Grimm self was over pleased with the slight possibility that Wesen could be fought tonight. Nick had felt a little off after their first encounter. The Gelumcaedus had gotten the drop on him and he hadn’t been able to do anything after that.

“Who has my partner?!” Nick demanded towards the locked up man.

Gregorek stood up and acted like he didn’t know saying, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Nick unlocked the jail cell and pulled his gun on the Wesen and told him to put his hands on his head and when Gregorek didn’t comply, Nick’s Grimm side flared to life giving him a bit more power behind his throw than Nick wanted. Gregorek was slammed into the bars of the cage as the Grimm placed cuffs on his wrist. Even with the rough treatment, Nick felt that the Gelumcaedus was smiling at him.

“If anything happens to him… you won’t be dealing with a cop…” Nick practically snarled at the man.

Nick drove the car through the city to the meeting place the voice had detailed in the phone call. Once he was there his phone rang again. He answered in a serious tone, “If I don’t hear Hank’s voice, I am going to put a bullet into your friend’s head.”

“Nick…” Hank stated in a normal tone and that was all Nick got.

“Now you heard him. Leave your gun in the car and bring my brother to me.” the voice stated.

The phone went dead again as Nick look back at his captive. He stated in a neutral tone, “Brother?”

Gregorek looked out the window and stated, “He’s always looked after me… You better leave that gun here.”

Nick wasn’t happy to give up his gun but he knew it was necessary. The other part of him was over joyed however and it relished in the feel of the vambrace against his outstretched arm. It was looking like he was going to be getting into a fist fight after all. Nick placed the gun in the glove compartment and got out of the car slowly and walked to the back of it, opening the door to let Gregorek out. With the Gelumcaedus out of the vehicle, Nick turned on his flash light and grabbed the wesen’s forearm, practically pushing him in the direction they needed to go.

“Smells just like home…” Gregorek responded as they entered the sewer tunnel. As they continued deeper into the sewer the wesen continued to edge Nick on by saying, “I have respect for Dēcapitāre. My grandfather used to tell us stories of your kind to scare us. You don’t look too scary to me right now.”

Nick ignored the comments that were trying to get a rise out of him. Right now the most important thing was to rescue Hank. If there happened to be wesen casualties in the crossfire then so be it. They continued to walk deeper into the drainage system going around countless turns. Nick couldn’t smell anything just like in the previous one. The passage opened up into a bigger room where Nick saw the other Gelumcaedus and Hank who was bound in tape to a sewer ladder.

“Brother you are good?” the man asked Gregorek.

Gregorek answered in a light tone, “Better now Andre.”

Andre turned to look at Nick and demanded, “Take the handcuffs off my brother. Or watch me cut his throat.”

Nick didn’t have a choice as he procured the handcuff keys and stepped behind Gregorek and started to unlock the restraints. He showed the silver cuffs to Andre and stated in a tone that showed his suppressed anger, “Now step away from my partner.”

Surprisingly, Andre complied and started walking towards his brother and Nick continued clockwise towards Hank. Gregorek took that time to inform his brother, “He’s Dēcapitāre.”

Andre stated matter-of-factly, “He knows what we are.”

Nick made it to Hank who seemed to be watching the two brother’s closely. Nick responded, “Yes, I do.”

“That’s too bad.” Andre said, the Gelumcaedus continued as Nick started to untie Hank’s bindings, “Now my brother and I are going to have to kill you.”

Gregorek piped up just then, “I think you meant “brothers.”

Just then Hank ripped the tape off his lips and said, “There are three of them! Behind you!”

Nick’s adrenaline was pumping hard and he seemed to sense the third Gelumcaedus as it charged him. He grabbed his arm after a forearm thrust into the wesens stomach and then proceeded to flip it onto the ground. Gregorek charged next and with a few select moves he was also on the ground. The sound of the hidden blade seemed to echo in Nick’s ears as Andre then joined the fight. Once again, arm and elbow thrusts into the stomach and chin; and Andre was stumbling back.

The third brother shot up and charged in again but this time Nick was ready with a bladed shot through the chin. He hit him off and sliced across the wesen’s throat. The Gelumcaedus kneeled down, grasping at his sliced throat and Nick used him as a pedestal to roll over and attack Andre who was getting back to his senses. The Grimm side of Nick was basking in the carnage as Nick sliced through Andre’s scaley skin like a hot knife through butter. After a couple good slices Andre was down and Gregorek came at Nick from behind. He threw Nick against the wall and tried to get a good bite but Nick had his guarded forearm up stopping the powerful jaw from ripping through his arm.

Then suddenly the wesen was stumbling back form Nick. Nick looked up and saw Hank with a lead pipe smacking the Gelumcaedus like he was hitting a baseball. Gregorek raised himself up on his forearms and woged back to human form and looked at his deceased brothers. He screamed out, “You killed my brothers!”

Nick said good night to Hank and proceeded to take the Gelumcaedus back to the precinct. It was another mess that Sean would need to clean up. Once again he was wondering when his Captain would come back. Later that evening Nick opened the weapons closet in the trailer and placed the cuff safely back in its box and said to himself with a small smile, “Dēcapitāre, I like that…”

~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments rock! I appriciate all of them ^.^


	5. Resistance and Krampus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean meets with the council as Nick deals with Krampus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long time away from posting! Real life has been killer! But! Here it is... Hope you all Enjoy.
> 
> Btw, not Beta'd by anyone but myself, all errors are my own.

“-accident.” Sean grasped the German from the new arrival.

Renard didn’t know what to make of Tavitian. A strong Roman nose, rich chocolate brown hair, and matching facial hair accompanied a strong gait full of authority. His impossibly dark brown eyes seemed black as he scoped the line out and finally rested on Sean. Tavitian’s voice was deep as he asked which language would best be spoken for meeting. Then the oily voice of Frenay interrupted his mental note taking.

“English would be suited for all involved.” The interrogator stated.

Then Tavitian’s voice seemed to deepen as he stated in heavily accented English, “Gvood. Wvhere is Breslau?”

Frenay answered barely containing his excitement as he explained, “Breslau is dead. He betrayed us. We almost missed meeting… Sean Renard because of it.”

There was a smirk on Tavitian’s face as he stated abruptly, “So! You are the Royal Bastard.”

Sean had to match that smirk as he said proudly, “Well, I am Royal… and I can be a Bastard.”

Tavitian gave a slight nod and his smirk lessened as he replied, “I can be too.”

The two shook hands briefly before Frenay said, “We’ve been here too long. Let’s get this meeting going.”

The group walked into the mansion and as Sean continued to study the back of Tavitian’s hair with its thick brown locks, he almost missed him saying, “It’s good to meet someone who hates your family almost as much as I do.”

Sean had to smile at the abruptness that Travitian used as he replied, “Who’s not afraid to say that to my face.

Tavitian moved more into the room, allowing Sean to catch of moment of brief unwatched relaxation until Sebastien walked up, and he seemed like a frightened rabbit amidst a bunch of wolves. His eyes jittered around the room as he said quickly, “I m-must get back before your cousin misses me…”

Sean nodded and stated as a parting quip, “Be careful.”

“I-I’ll try.” Sebastien motioned as he walked swiftly out the exit.

Sean turned around and looked at the group on the other side of the room. His eyes touched Martin’s and in that moment it seemed like worlds were communicated between them. Concern was prime amongst the others as the people around him muttered amongst themselves. Travitian wanted to get the meeting started but he still shook the other member’s hands. He then turned towards Sean and placed his hands onto the back of the chair sitting at the head of the table. Sean wondered what he was getting himself into, thoughts of Portland and Nick reinforced his resolve as he gave a smile and sat down at the table.

~~~~

Sean was thinking inwardly, trying to soothe the raging headache that started when the bickering started, “He cannot be trusted!”

“The King is his father!”

“Yes! And his mother is a Hexenbiest!”

Sean was surprised when he heard Travitian speak up in Sean’s defense saying, “It is more important than ever that we coordinate our efforts and that includes Sean Renard.”

“His brother’s assassination has put pressure on all of us.”

“That is not a bad thing. We were not doing enough.”

“He should have been eliminated a long time ago.”

Then Frenay added his voice to the mix stating something actually wise, “Sometimes, when you cut off the head of the snake, two grow back.”

“Then you cut off both heads… and gut the body.”

“Eric’s death was necessary. We would not be much of a Resistance if we did not resist.” Sean continued to listen until one of the guards walked in and moved towards Meisner then preceded to whisper in his ear, which piqued his interest.

“No. His reasons are personal. He hated his brother.” Beanie, as Sean nick named the young Wesen, stated.

“If his brother had been allowed to succeed, the families would have seen us as weak.” Tavitian added to the argument.

“I do not trust him.” Beanie said.

One of the two women in the room stated equally as plainly towards Beanie, “And I do not trust you.”

“Then we are nowhere and we will be crushed.” Travitian stated to the room before continuing, motioning towards Sean, “This might be a good time for you to say something.”

Sean looked up at Travitian and tried to order his thoughts. He looked around the room and started with, “I can understand… the reluctance that some of you feel.” He ended the statement looking squarely at Beanie.

Renard gave a dramatic pause before stating, “However, my blood gives me access to people that we need. I understand Wesen in ways that many of you can’t…” He waited a brief moment before playing his trump card, “…and I have a Grimm.”

The whole room skipped a beat, held their breathes, and looked between each other in anticipation. Sean chose that moment to say, “No one else brings all this to the table. Now there is no guarantee that it will be enough, but we must trust each other or there will be no stopping the Royal Families. They will dominate the world again and those of us who are still alive will be kneeling before them, begging for whatever crumbs they throw at our feet.”

Sean felt it inside of him. The untapped potential his Royal blood offered him. He saw it in the Wesen around him, how their eyes seemed to gloss over ever so slightly when he spoke. It was like when Sean had his hands on the three coins of Zakynthos before they were stolen from him, except this was all him. _Such simple minded creatures need someone to spoon feed them ideas… Need someone they could look up to… Need someone to **rule** over them. **I** could be that ruler… _ Sean heard himself thinking. The thoughts were an echo of the coins but Sean knew that the thoughts were provided by the Regnant within himself. He shot the ideas down as hard and fast as they came up.

However the moment ended when Meisner said, “Well, we’re no longer safe here. The police just found three bodies of Verrat enforcers 50 miles away at the scene of an accident.” The last sentence was said as Martin looked straight at Travitian.

Without explaining himself Travitian said the group, “I think it’s time to go. I’m not interested in kneeling before anyone, or begging for crumbs.”

Sean shared eye contact with the impromptu leader of the Resistance stating, “Nor am I.”

Travitian inhaled deeply before saying, “I believe you are who we need. We cannot waste this opportunity! There might not be another. If any of you still disagree, let’s deal with it now.”

The room was stone quiet as the members shuffled around, gauging each other’s reactions to the information that was shared during this meeting. Sean found himself holding his own breath in waiting. Before long, Travitian said, “Then it’s decided. You and I are in this together.”

Sean and Travitian shook hands firmly, bringing up memories of when Sean first physically met Nick Burkhardt at his police station. That thought reminded Sean of how long he had been away from _his_ Grimm and his home. Christmas was coming up and Sean had half a mind to send something back to the station for the boys, a secret one for Nick. _Now is not the time for that_ , Sean heard from his Regnant self. It didn’t stop his mind from wondering once again how _his_ Grimm was fairing.

~~~~

Nick laid down in bed, a little uneasy from the events of the day. His eyelids closed briefly and when he opened them he was standing in Sean’s office, in front of his bosses chair which happened to be facing the window overlooking the city of Portland, _their_ city. He finds himself wanting _his_ Captain back from Vienna sooner rather than later. Suddenly the chair swiveled around revealing sharp green/brown eyes inlaid in a face with a strong Roman nose. A lazy smirk was set on full lips amongst naturally tanned skin. His hands were even clasped together, his brow furled in thought.

“Well?” his Captain asked Nick, arousing the detective from his stupor.

Nick stammered, “W-Well what?”

Sean dropped his hands and sighed before saying, “You were explaining this case about a boy who was attacked… by Santa Claus and another who was abducted?”

Nick let out a strangled laugh. He must have been dreaming but if this was a way his mind wanted to work through the case, then so be it. The Detective walked over to the spot he normally stood at in his boss’s office and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest in thought. Sean had gotten up from his desk and started to pace in front of the window, one of his hands curled in a fist against his chin.

“There were claw marks on the boy in the hospital. And he is definitely afraid of anyone dressed up as Santa Claus.” Nick explained.

Dream-Sean nodded his head in acknowledgement before adding, “You said the boy stole presents earlier in the day?”

Nick leaned his head back with his eyes closed and thought that the wooden beam seemed to feel all too real to him before replying, “Yes…”

When Nick didn’t hear his Captain’s footsteps he slowly opened his eyes and found Renard’s face inches away from his own. He scoffed, “Come on Nick! You know who you’re looking for!”

Nick tried to back up and forgot he was against the wall. He said, “No I don’t!”

Even his answer sounded weak to himself. Dream-Sean had grabbed Nick’s forearms and the Detective was finding it hard to separate dream form reality. His Captain practically shook him saying, “Why do you always try to look for a human target first?!”

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about!” Nick stated, his eyes going a little wide.

“You know it’s a Wesen… just not the type! You need to stop fooling yourself! Open up to your Grimm side Nick! Get angry!” Captain Renard said, his voice rising towards the end.

“N-No!” Nick screamed back at his boss. The fact that this was a dream had completely escaped his thoughts.

“What are you so afraid of?!” Renard asked Nick in an angry voice of his own.

“I-I’m not afraid!” Nick replied in a voice that betrayed the truth.

“You are! It’s in your thoughts, in your police work, and even present when you’re fighting Wesen.” His boss explained while his grip kept getting tighter on his arms. Sean stated in a clear deep voice, “What. Are. You. Afraid. Of?”

Nick felt those strong arms attached to him and viewed them like a life line. He didn’t want to lose to Sean as he gave in and said in a small voice, “That I would like it…”

His Captain relaxed slightly as he asked, “Like what?”

With a deep breath Nick continued, “That I would like killing Wesen.” And then the flood gates opened and Nick was drowning in emotion as he screamed out, “I don’t want to end up like my Mother or my Aunt! I don’t want to lose my friends or you! I don’t want to be like Trouble and expect to die young!”

“I want…I want…” Nick gasped out.

“I am not going anywhere…” Sean Renard, Nick’s Captain, whispered into Nick’s ear.

What was once a life line turned into a lifesaver as Nick felt those strong arms wrap around him in a comforting embrace. Nick’s whole body relaxed into the feeling of Captain Renard hugging him. If Nick couldn’t get it out in real life, at least he had his dreams. He leaned into the embrace and whispered back, “I want… you, _my Captain_.”

Nick woke up straight out of his bed. Sweat was running down his face and his breath was coming in short gasps. This was the first time he had woken up in a cold sweat since the first case he had involving Wesen happened. Except the main character had changed and not to mention the circumstances of the dream; the first was fear and now this one was self-acknowledgement. Nick looked over at Juliette and wondered if he could confront his Captain in real life or would he still be playing games with Juliette when Sean really came home. He looked over at his clock and figured that the dream had allowed enough soul searching for the time being. The Detective rolled out of bed and decided to get an early start to the day. He did after all have a Wesen kidnapper to catch, and he was without a doubt a Grimm.

~~~~

Hotel Sacher was a ritzy establishment compared to what the Royal family normally did with bearers of illegitimate Royal children. The hallways were painted in neutral colors and the art was scattered tastefully. Sean waited around the corner, keeping an eye out while Martin walked over to the green door and pulled out a machine that would gain them access to the room. Renard looked over his shoulder as the little red light lit up Meisner’s face every now and then, two reds and then a green most likely meaning the door was open.

Meisner walked into the room cautiously, allowing Sean to continue to stand guard until the Martin verified that there were no people waiting in surprise for them. With a quick check, Miesner looked back, his one brown eyebrow higher than the other. He gave a curt nod allowing Sean access to Adalind’s room. The two switched spots, slightly bumping shoulders in a comforting manner.

Sean closed the door behind him; just in case Martin was found out he could just play it off while Sean could continue to search. The room was large and in Sean’s opinion overly decorated. The easiest object of interest crossed Renard’s line of site, the desk. He slid the drawer open and almost let out a sound of disgust when nothing of import was found. Sean exhaled and went into the bed room, idly looking around until he noticed an out of place item sitting next to a full length mirror.

He sauntered over to the mirror and looked at the jar sitting innocently on a side table. Sean placed a hand on the lid and lifted the container with a red mystery substance. Curious, Sean opened the lid and peered inside at the oozing jelly. However as soon as the scent reached his nostrils something unimaginable happened. His tight control over his Zauberbiest blew off with ten tons of dynamite. Sean heard the growl escape his half malformed lips. Renard looked at the reflection in the mirror and then back at the contents. It was a definite Zaubertränke and evil at that. Shaking his head, Sean closed the lid and placed it back onto the side table and looked up. Something caught his eye, there in the corner of the room was a small recording device inlaid into the smoke detector.

Sean ghosted the words he wrote into a piece of stationary pilfered form the desk. With a single flower, Renard placed a letter onto the desk and walked out of the room. Meeting up with Martin, a warm smile graced his lips, as Sean tapped him on the shoulder, singling for them to head out. Meisner nodded and took his post in front of Sean and the two of them continued to walk out of the hotel.

~~~~

“Y-You’re a Grimm!!” the Schakal screamed out before breaking out in a dead sprint.

“Schakal!!” Nick stated with and eager grin on his face. His blood was pounding after another victim was stuffed into a sack. He felt his Grimm start to take over and was actually happy for it. It didn’t take long with the increased stamina Nick possessed and he ended up tackling the Wesen. That wasn’t enough however, Nick lost control as he felt his fists continue to pummel the Schakal dressed in the Santa suit.

Later that evening, Hank and Nick walked into the precinct and was immediately confronted by Wu about the nights events. But even more pressing was what he said next, “That coal from the crime scenes was actually mined from the North Pole.”

With that note, Hank turned to Nick and asked, “Well, what do you think we should do?”

“We could ask someone who believes in Santa…” Nick offered, which piqued Hank’s interest.

“How could I not guess...?” Hank asked as the two arrived in front of Monroe’s house.

Nick just smiled as he escorted Hank up to the door and knocked lightly. After a moment when Monroe didn’t answer Nick looked at Hank and smiled lightly as he rasped harder on the door. The door opened slowly to reveal a morose Monroe. Hank and Nick were escorted inside and were told about the disastrous day involving, what Nick thought was a whole department stores worth of Christmas decorations thrown up into too small of space, and Rosalee’s take on it. The Grimm had to admit that the Blutbadt’s take on Christmas, hell, any holiday, seemed to be over exaggerated and tended to overwhelm any person, human or Wesen alike.

It was hard to not comfort the older man however; Nick could try and distract him with the season he was fondest of as he asked, “What about that time you dressed up as Santa. Have you… ever heard of… another Blutbadt dress up?”

“Well, Blutbadt’s aren’t Gefrierengeber…” Monroe stated with a partial smile.

“What about kidnapping children? Could a Gefrieren-” Nick struggled with the name.

“No, no, no. Not possible. Wait, was there coal or perhaps were the children acting in any matter that could be as discerned as “Naughty.””

“Yes.” Both Hank and Nick stated together.

Monroe’s face went paler than it usually was as he said in a hollow voice, “Oh no…Krampus.”

“Krampus?” Nick asked, one of his eyebrows rose.

“He’s a creature that kidnaps naughty children and then he hangs them from the tallest tree at the tallest spot until the Winter Solstice…” Monroe explained.

“Well that’s harmless…” Hank offered a whimsical smirk.

“…where he will devour them.” Monroe finished.

“Wait, today is the 21st.” Nick brought to light.

“There’s no more time! I have maps of the area up stairs.” Monroe offered as he guided the Detectives up the stairs to the study.

~~~~

“Bah! I can’t smell anything but Bud’s fear!” Monroe stated, panic clear in his throat.

Nick heard something then but he couldn’t quite make it out. He stated in a serious voice, “Shh! I hear something!”

Nick ran through the woods leading the search party behind him. It wasn’t long before the Grimm came upon the tree which held all six children in its branches. Hank and the rest of the group finally arrived and started to help the children out of their cages. A sound off in the distance startled Nick, making him go to investigate. His other self was hoping for the noise to belong to Krampus. Nick wanted, no he _needed_ an outlet for him to work out his feelings raging within him.

Nick ran into a creature resembling the Grinch except he had green ram’s horns and a red glowing tongue. The creature was dragging a sack with presumably another child within. After Nick grabbed the sack and tried to open it, Krampus swung wildly at Nick, allowing the Grimm to dodge easily. Nick picked up a branch and swung it at the creature who blocked with his forearms before kicking Nick squarely in the stomach, throwing him back into a tree. With the screaming child still in the bag, Krampus charged the tree barely giving Nick enough time to dodge. Nick took the moment where Krampus was dazed to untie the sack and let the boy out.

Krampus let out a guttural growl and launched himself at Nick again. With the sack in hand, Nick threw it onto Krampus’s face and flipped him over onto his back. The creature didn’t stay down long and was back up and slashing at Nick with his claws and as Nick threw off the trajectory of the motion, Krampus continued through the attack with an elbow to Nick’s side. And when Nick punched Krampus in the head the Wesen went followed through with an iron clad grip onto Nick’s throat.

 _Not going your way..?_ Nick heard the voice in the back of his mind.

 _Shut it,_ Nick replied to the Grimm part of him.

 _While you fight against me, we are going to pass out…_ Nick’s mind argued as his vision started greying. A thought of Sean’s disappointment of his own weakness angered Nick. He could not stand appearing weak. That thought alone urged Nick to open himself to his heritage. His greying sight became crystal clear and Nick noticed his breathing mellow at the same time. Without needing to see it, Nick knew his skin was had gone death grey.

Krampus growled and then pulled back his other hand back to punch Nick. That was when Nick decided to punch Krampus himself. And with the extra power afforded to Nick the hit landed with more impact than all of the hits the Grimm had landed earlier. He could even hear a crack as the Wesen fell backwards and sprawled out on the ground. Just then the others showed up and shined light onto Krampus’ face.

“We have to deal with this Nick.”

“You’re the Grimm here!”

“Someone’s gotta do this!”

“Have to shoulder the badge on this one, Nick.”

Monroe and Hank bickered back and forth and Nick just wanted them to shut up. His hand had already unclipped his gun. Hank had his own gun out and pointed it towards the unconscious Krampus as he shuffled around to stand next to Nick. Just then Monroe’s phone went off and he stated in a hollow voice that it was midnight. The three of them looked on at Krampus and saw the horns shrink and his features melted until a human man was there laying on the ground.

“W-Where am I? What’s going on?” the man asked as he looked around and then noticed the weapons and continued hysterical, “OH! What are you doing? How did I get here?!”

Hank looked at Nick and both holstered their weapons as the man continued to ramble on. The Detectives brought the man into the precinct where they continued to question the man. He answered the same thing every time; that he had gone through this every December and that he doesn’t know what happens during that time. Nick found himself in the company of Hank and Monroe in the trailer, updating the Grimm encyclopedias with his latest information on Krampus that they have collected.

Nick went back to the house, his shoulders a little heavy from the decision that Hank and Monroe agreed upon. They were to let the Council deal with the man; the same council who wanted to kill the boy who was infected with a virus not too long ago. Sure it was Nick who brought it up, but he thought, he hoped that Monroe would say otherwise. Now that innocent photographer was most likely going to be dead by the end of the week.

_There you go, showing your morals again…_

“Sean?” Nick asked with an elated tone, as he turned around in the living room. He smiled softly as he sat down on one of the chairs. He brought his hands up to his face and held them there. _What are you doing?_ Nick thought to himself as he went up to the room, changed into his sweats and t-shirt, and relaxed on the bed. Sleep found him easier than he thought as he thought of his Captain and that easy smirk he always wore.

~~~~

Sean looked into the mirror in the room the Resistance provided him. He decided to experiment as he allowed his Zauberbiest Woge out in front of the reflective glass. The rotten flesh was unsightly but he needed to continue. Renard coaxed that side of him that only answered when he was in crisis, his Regnant side. However it seemed like that part of him was as stubborn as he was. Sighing, Sean shook his head slightly and returned back to his human face. As Sean turned back towards the bed, something shimmered copper in the corner of his eye.

He quickly turned back and watched his eyes bleed from his normal brown/green to the copper he remembered seeing that awful night in front of Nick’s. From his eyes the color expanded across his skin, bronze scales that reminded Sean of dragon’s from Great Britain. Just as he thought of that, the scales retreated and his eyes reverted to his normal color. Although the Woge was short, it was getting easier to bring it out than it had the last thousand times he’s tried. Sean went over to lie down on the bed and found himself falling asleep to thoughts of how he could surprise Nick when he got back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are good! Comments are fantastic! Comments make writers feel appriciated... I will appriciate any comments offered ^_^


	6. Our Captain, Our Prince, Our Lover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! Rampant dreams again! Mainly just an idea that got stuck into my brain and wouldn't go away until I typed it. Seems like I found a direction for this story to go through... accidently. HA! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> No Beta's, all errors are my own ^.^

The creaking sound came from someone trying to walk silently but failing miserably, however it was enough sound to force Sean’s eyes open. When nothing seemed to happen for several moments the Captain was going to go back to sleep when he realized that everything seemed to be coming in crystal clear quality. What’s more, was the fact that his sight included both eyes and not just the one when his Zauberbeist woged. Adrenaline shot through Renard’s body as he rocketed out of the bed towards a full length mirror in the room.

Sean couldn’t believe it, staring back at him was a reflection of what Sean thought to be his Regnant woge. Polished gold specs were swirling in vintage bronze colored iris’s which still seemed calculating. A mixture of different shades of copper colored scales made their way from his eyelids, around his face, and toward his neck and wrapped around the top of his chest and across his collar bone. The colors seemed to bleed lighter until the scales color seemed like white pearl as they stretched down his chest and into the rim of his black silk pajama bottoms. White pearl scales extended toward the middle of his oblique’s before they bled back to the copper colors along his back and up towards the inner part of his biceps before flowing down to the palm of his hand.

“There you are my Prince!” Meisner’s German accent reverberated around the room, shocking Sean out of the trance he put himself into.

Martin walked past Sean without a second glance as he made his way to a closet which happened to be the same as the one he had in Portland. _It’s a dream_ …Sean thought to himself as he recognized the furniture of his loft in the States and was about to try and wake himself up when the Resistance envoy came back out of the closet with clothes that he tossed carelessly onto the bed. Meisner was dressed in charcoal grey dress slacks with a black leather belt adorned with a gleaming silver buckle. He had a black silk shirt on with the top button undone to show off a little of his sculpted chest.

“Here, change. Everyone is waiting.” Martin explained as he went back into the closet and emerged with a pair of exquisitely made loafers in which he dropped in front of Sean who was shocked still.

“Who’s waiting?” Sean asked with his woged voice sounding deeper than he thought it would.

“Now is not the time for games!” Meisner stated in an exasperated tone before he screamed, “NICK!!!”

Renard laughed, _there was no way Nick would_ \- he started to think until his Grimm walked through the door in an off white / cream suit jacket over a black cotton ribbed tank top. The undershirt disappeared into the same cream colored dress slacks with a black leather belt adorned with a silver buckle. Sean could see a hint of tattooing right below Nick’s collar bone and even his right ear was pierces with a small black tempered titanium hoop. The Captain didn’t realize that Nick’s mouth was moving as he scoped out his Grimm’s body. The sound was drowned out by the overwhelming beat of his heart, the drying of his lips, and the heat that traveled from his groin up to the tip of his ears.

All Sean managed to get was, “-meeting.”

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked, his voice sounding normal after the shock of this Dream-Nick most likely made him revert from his Regnant woge.

“Great! There’s no time for you two to fuck right now! Just make it through the next hour and a half and you two can have as much sex as you want!” Meisner said with his arms thrown in the air for added enthusiasm.

“Now, now, Martin. Just because it isn’t your night doesn’t mean you aren’t welcome to join us…” Nick cooed to the other man.

That statement seemed to surprise Sean more than Nick’s added ink, accessories, and wardrobe. It didn’t last long however, as both men walked up to Sean and started to dress him in what he could guess was his meeting attire. They moved around Sean with a practice ease that usually came with time and effort, usually present in long relationships. Before long, Sean was dressed and ready for whatever the night would entail, although secretly he just wanted to play with both men in his bed until they passed out. But it seemed as though Sean was a slave to his own imagination this time.

Before they left the room, Martin said to Nick, “We should get ready as well.”

Sean looked between the two still a little short on the brain cells but he managed, “Aren’t you two already ready?”

Meisner put the back of his palm to Sean’s forehead before saying, “No fever… You aren’t sick. Maybe a Zaubertränke? Anyway, half of the reason these meetings are set up is for the community to see you, a Royal, Nick, your sworn Grimm, and me, your sworn ally with the Resistance. They expect a show.”

Renard heard Nick sigh before he said, “Unfortunately, it’s the price we pay for helping to keep everyone safe. A pound of flesh is a small price…”

“A pound of-” Sean started to say when Nick took off the dress coat at the same time Martin started to unbutton his dress shirt.

Sean knew his mouth was agape and that he was probably drooling excessively as Nick reveled the tattooing that seemed to start at his hands. Black ink began with two spikes on the back of his hands and swirled around in a tribal pattern along his forearms and up his biceps and briefly stopped at his shoulders. If that little show made Sean gasp in wonder; what was in store next for the Police Captain made it feel like time stopped. Two Tribal dragons facing each other on Nick’s pectorals curved out and around the outside of each nipple and wove down towards his midline before curving back outward and disappeared into his pant line several inches below his navel. Nick turned around to toss the shirt and jacket onto the bed and in turn showed off his back which was also tattooed in a tribal marking that started with two spikes at the base of his neck and expanded outward to meet up with the tattoos on his shoulders. There were sharp edges and curves that seemed to fill up his back but without covering all of his natural skin tone. The tattoo itself ended at a point below his waist, most likely at his tail bone.

“T-Too much…” Sean heard himself whisper.

“What?” Nick and Martin asked in unison; giving Sean a chance to see the same exact branding on Martin's own skin. The contrast between the two was damning. Nick’s lighter colored skin and less toned body versus Martin’s darker skin and more toned body.

Sean coughed and looked between Nick’s light blue/green eyes and Martin’s flat blue eyes and saw in each a mirrored confusion as he repeated, “The price is too much! Why do we have to sell ourselves?”

“This or war with every clan that showed up in America…” Martin said in a hushed tone.

Nick added, “It’s just for an hour and a half of parading around, showing us off… is the better option.”

Sean couldn’t say or do anything with the way the dream was heading. The Regnant part of him knew he had to keep the peace even if it wasn’t real. His Zauberbiest side was as always, just wanting to sleep with the two men to try and expand his power base. And just like in real life it was up to his human part to be the breaker in the conflict within himself. If there was anyway to make this future a possibility, Sean knew the only way to get information was to go along with the dream and attend the meeting. With that thought in mind, the two men beside him opened the door and walked into the elevator to get to the garage where an armored SUV waited for them.

The ride to the meeting spot was quiet and pretty uneventful. Even if they managed to have a threesome in the backseat, Sean could not bring himself to initiate it. Emotions were high and low, almost like a rollercoaster. To try and ease the tension, Sean grabbed a hand of Martin’s and Nick’s. He sat there in silence and gently rubbed his thumb over the back of their hands looking for a bit of comfort in the strange situation. These two were starting to seem all too real to the Police Captain. When he got a welcoming response and a soft smile from both of them, Sean realized even if it was a dream, his actions had consequences that could tear one or both away from him.

~~~~

The meeting place, as it so happened to be, was in the middle of the woods. Heavy torches lit the night sky making it seem more like a ritual involving a sacrifice as appose to a meeting between clans. Although for all Sean knew there might be a sacrifice even a virginal sacrifice. With Martin on his left and Nick on his right, Sean was accompanied by several other wesen that were in his employ in the real world. It was a nice thought that some of his men survived whatever made this future possible, but even with the extra guards, his Grimm and Martin kept an ever vigilant eye out for any possible danger. Nick was in his Grimm mode, making the tattoos on his body more striking than when he was normal.

“Nick!” Sean cringed as he heard the familiar voice of that wretched Blutbadt.

Sean heard the smile in Nick’s voice and noticed him regain color in his skin as he called ahead, “Monroe… We made it!”

“Barely…” Martin whispered barely audible, the sound seemed to hold about the same amount of disdain that Sean held for the clock repairer.

As the wesen in question approached, Sean realized that there was some good in having Monroe here. The Blutbadt had a tendency to run off topic, not so much as the Beisbiber, Bud, but he might still be able to fill him in. Nick accepted the “bro-hug” Monroe offered and it wasn’t long before he started going off on a tangent about the other guests he had run into. Renard took this time to call Monroe off to the side to question him personally, while the other two walked ahead slightly. They were still within range to come if danger approached however.

“Slow down, you were saying what about the leaders?” Sean asked in a level tone.

“See who is on top of the _Did more during the War_ list.” Monroe explained, and without prompting he continued with a slightly inclined eyebrow and lower tone of voice, “You know… the war in Europe when you and the Resistance destroyed one of the major Royal Families?”

“Right, where are the other families?” Renard inquired.

“No one seems to know and frankly don’t seem to care. There’s a pool going to see if they are scared shitless and just hiding or if they are gathering allies to take revenge upon you, Nick and Martin.” The Blutbadt stated matter-of-factly.

“The Clans?” Sean prompted.

“Most of them migrated here when the Wesen community fell into chaos in Europe. The stronger ones are fighting for dominance against the Wesen Council and other Clans across the ocean while others wanted you to rule them…” Monroe explained before Martin and Nick walked back to them.

“Even if you are a Prince, you shouldn’t be late to a meeting…” Martin chided.

“We really should be going to get this over with. Then we can go back to the loft…” Nick concurred.

The two men went to stand on either side of a chair in the middle of a table. Sean approached the chair and found it sat behind a small ornate writing-like desk that was situated several feet away from an enormous table that looked like it was a crescent moon. There were chairs set up along the outer curve and nothing on the inner portion where his own table sat. Sean ran a hand over the lacquered rosewood chair, marveling at how real it felt. Nick and Martin straightened their backs, making Sean look back towards the crescent table where shadows and silhouettes started to move in from the surrounding wood towards the seats at the table. The realness of the dream was suddenly forgotten and Sean felt nervous and anxious about the meeting that was going to take place. In a stalling gesture, he removed his dress jacket to try and collect his thoughts while he placed it on his wooden throne. When Sean turned back around to face the Clans, he found himself looking into his living room at his loft.

Shocked at the sudden change in scenery, Sean looked behind him seeing his jacket was placed over a modern, yet comfortable chair that he had at his own dining table. The carved rosewood chair in the middle of the woods was gone and with it any thought of the Clans that had come to him for whatever reason. _Did anything happen in the woods? Were the Clans under control?_ Thousands of questions were running rampant inside Sean’s skull making him furrow his brow in thought. A light flick to the center of his forehead brought the Captain out of his deep and brooding thoughts.

“Wha-” Sean started to ask as he brought up one hand to his forehead as if the flick had hurt. Then he noticed Dream-Nick in front of him.

Nick interrupted the question with a playful smile and explained, “You’re worry lines are showing…”

Sean couldn’t help but smile back at his Grimm. But that didn’t stop his smile from becoming a serious line as he stated, “Of course they are… There’s just so much to do and I have to protect everyone-”

Whatever else Sean was going to say was stopped by Nick’s index finger over Sean’s lips and the Grimm shaking his head. He corrected Sean by saying, “ _We._ We have to protect everyone. Martin and I are always here to help you share the burden. You are not alone in this endeavor.”

Nick removed his finger and placed a chaste kiss on Sean’s lips. All of a sudden Sean was reminded that Nick was still half naked and he couldn’t stop himself as his hands started to rub along the smaller man’s skin. An electric current ran from his lips to every part of his body and it was like Sean was transferring that current back through his fingertips as they languidly caressed his Grimm’s skin. Before Sean could try and make the kiss more passionate, Nick broke the kiss off and brought his arms around Sean’s body into a hug. He laid his head against Sean’s chest and stayed there for a moment, allowing Sean to hug him back, his hands making small circles on Nick’s slightly muscled back.

Nick then went up on his tip toes, bringing his mouth close to Sean’s ear. His breath was hot as Nick whispered, “We love you Sean Renard, Martin and I. You are _our Captain, our Prince, and our Lover.”_

Sean woke up sweating and gasping for air. _It was a dream_ … Sean rationalized to himself. Of course it was a dream; he even knew it was in the middle of it. The illusion was more real than anything the coins poisoned him with. He shook his head and tried to think clearly. The furniture in the room with the tacky wall paper told Sean that he was still in Europe with the Resistance. That in a few hours he would be meeting Adalind to discuss his future child… However, no matter how he tried to think of the present machinations of Victor, Adalind’s pregnancy, and the Resistance; Sean’s mind kept going back to his tattooed lovers, Martin and Nick.

The possible future that Sean was privy to in his dream was something that he wanted to make true. Silently, Sean grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom and turned the shower on hot and waited. He removed the sleepwear he took to bed and stood in front of the mirror as the steam started to billow from the glass framed door. Without a sound, Sean opened the glass door and reveled in the heat that poured over him. The water was indeed scalding but it paled in comparison to what when through him in the dream with the contact between him and Nick.

Sean laid his head against the tiled wall and let the water fall on his back, he heard himself groan as he thought back to Nick and Martin standing next to each other with the same _claiming_ tattoos. Without realizing it, Sean felt himself getting hard in the shower by fictional copies of his real life colleagues. Sean knew it wouldn’t do any good to try and ignore it, whenever he would think of the two together this would be the result, so instead of fighting it, Sean took some soap and lathered up his chest and groin. It had been quite some time since Sean had to rub one off before continuing the day and it was long overdue. He closed his eyes and thought back to the dream and pretended that his own hand running over his chest and stomach was Nick’s, rolling over his nipple and under his pec before slowly gliding down the water and soap slick skin in between his abs. Tattooed arms came from behind him and under his arms, following the line of his hip down to cup Sean’s shaft in tanned well-worked hands.

A gasp left Sean’s lips as he imagined Meisner behind him, his own well-built chest and muscles sliding along his skin while Nick continued to slide along Sean’s front, each of them kissing and nibbling lightly on his neck. It wasn’t long before Sean felt the tight pressure starting in his stomach and making him breathe a little heavier. “Martin’s” hand moved faster along his rigid shaft and “Nick” bit down (pinched) his nipple between his teeth. The sharp pain turned to pleasure and Sean unloaded himself into the shower. Hunched over and gasping for air, Sean slowly opened his eyes.

“Damnit…” Sean gasped out as he punched the tiled wall lightly. He knew that the dream was going to haunt him until it became a reality.

Quickly, Sean cleaned the rest of himself off before he turned off the water and grabbed a towel hanging on the wall and stood in front of the mirror again. He knew that if he wanted to make his dream a reality he had to master his Regnant woge. Forcing a woge was impossible, Sean recalled from when he was a child and taking wesen classes. It had to come naturally, the only problem with that was that if Sean let go, his Zauberbiest would take full advantage of the release of control. The trick would have to be letting go of everything else _but_ control of his Zauberbiest. He was overthinking it again. Sighing, Sean looked at his reflection, specifically his eyes and imagined one being his Zauberbiest and the other his Regnant. Sean wanted just the Regnant, so he clanged the image to show both Regnant eyes.

A shiver ran through Sean’s spine and up to his head causing a spasm. When he regained control of his body, Sean looked at his reflection and saw it. Bronze colored eyes with gold specs floating around his pupils. Different shades of copper mixed on scales around his face and down his body except when it bled into white pearlescent color on his chest and abdomen. Relief flooded Sean as he saw the mirror of what was in his dream making it seem like that future was definitely attainable. Martin and Nick would both be his, a Royal family will be destroyed, and Portland will belong to him, Nick, and Martin.

Excitement made Sean dress quickly and head out the door towards the next hurdle towards his future. He didn’t have to share the burden of leadership alone. No, he had Martin and Nick by his side. Nick’s hot breath ran across his skin, his voice in his ears, and the word’s echoed in his mind, _You are our Captain, Our Prince, and Our Lover…_

~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments rock! I hope you all enjoyed my little chapter inbetween all the canon stuff ^.^
> 
> PS: If anyone know's how to add images I would definately like to know. I have a couple that show the tattooing I have on Dream-Nick and Dream-Martin! Please leave a comment with how I may do this...


	7. Recollection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Sean Recollect on things happenening over the course of several episodes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed that I am making this a lot more... cannon-y? than what I wanted it to be! But! Fear not! I will break away from cannon now that Nick has his powers back and slowly finding out that he actually might have feelings for Sean! Juliette becomes useful as a Hexenbiest! at least I hope so, lol!
> 
> As usual, no Beta! All errors are my own!

His fingers caressed delicately over Nick’s skin. Feather light touches ran down his neck, down his arms then back up, and then proceeded to dance as delicately along each one of Nick’s ribs. It was as if Nick could break at any moment, like he was made of porcelain. Nick didn’t realize that Sean could be this sensitive; he was after all a hard skinned police captain, a Regnant, a Zauberbiest. The Grimm knew it was a dream and he was okay with it, although everything seemed, how could he put it… _real._

The sounds of muffled gasps and muttered nonsense floated on the air between his Captain and Nick. Heat danced between their bodies causing Nick to feel something along the lines of constant static electricity. Something else was off though, Sean’s lips were softer, his skin seemed less rugged, and even his eyes were the wrong color. Normally brown-green eyes would stare at him but instead this time Juliette’s grey-hazel eyes looked down at him.

This Sean straddled Nick’s hips and started to grind his ass against Nick’s raging hard-on. _Is this really happening…_ Nick thought to himself as Sean continued to grind on top of him. The Grimm closed his eyes and tried to etch this moment into his memory. A female’s voice roused Nick’s attention from the situation, making him open his eyes to a view of Juliette. She moved rhythmically to Nick’s thrusts as that soft feminine voice rang out through the haze of desire for Sean Renard that clouded Nick’s thoughts.

Before Nick could do something about Juliette being on top of him her hair started to bleed blonde. In a heartbeat, Nick was then looking into Adalind’s visage. Nick screamed himself out his dream turned nightmare. He sat upright on the couch in the Den. That bit of furniture was his safe haven from the pitying look in Juliette’s eyes. Trubel wasn’t any help either always following Nick around trying to protect him. His eyes searched the area before landing on a clock. It was only 3:23 in the morning and now he couldn’t get back to sleep. Thoughts of the past four months or so kept running through his psyche.

~~~

There was the Koschie healer that showed up at the same time that Juliette found out that her childhood best friend was a Fuchsbau. Then Sean magically appeared in his office one morning and gave cryptic answers about his time in Europe. Although there was something else that was different about Sean, he seemed more guarded and there were gold specs floating around in his normally brown-green eyes. Not long after the healer fiasco, there was a bit of a Yaguaraté gang related murder and Joe attempted to get Alicia back by knocking Nick into a wall but thankfully, Alicia and Juliette managed to subdue him.

Two Manticore’s had a show off after that which involved the rape of a Wesen in the armed forces. The Wildesheer’s scalping’s happened not long after that which was one hell of a debacle. Juliette was getting more involved with Nick’s mother regardless of his say-so, Nick got attacked by Monroe’s parents when they figured out he was a Grimm. And then in a few days Monroe’s father helped Nick and Monroe with three Wildesheer’s. Wu ended up checking himself into a mental hospital after he witnessed an Aswang. Sean seemed to be in higher spirits too, as he let slip to Nick that he had a baby girl. That wasn’t even the half of it however, as Nick poured himself some coffee in which he drank, black, as his thoughts continued to work through events.

Sean’s pleasant smirk was gone during the Anubis mummy finding, where Nick found himself siding with the Wesen Council about burning the mummy as opposed to letting humans… _God, he wasn’t referring to himself as human anymore_ …Nick thought randomly before picking up his train of thought. Letting humans dissect the ancient Wesen. There was a brief moment where Nick wanted to approach Captain Renard and ask him what was troubling him but the thought of it having to do with Adalind was enough of a deterrent for Nick to mind his own business.

There were killings as a Carnival of Wesen came through Portland and with Rosalee’s help they stopped the Lowen who was in charge. Even Sean’s spirits were up even if he wouldn’t tell Nick what had changed his overall mood; Nick could guess that Sean would be reunited with his baby girl. Then there was actually a calm spell for a couple of days to Nick’s surprise. It was actually in the middle of dinner with Monroe, Hank, Rosalee, and Juliette, when there was a knock at the door.

Grateful for the chance to leave the little group, Nick excused himself from the table and opened the door. Kelly walked into the house with someone holding a baby. At a loss for words, Nick heard Juliette approach and that’s when his mother took the towel away from the persons face, revealing it to be Adalind. After the almost confrontation between Juliette and Adalind, Kelly explained the situation and the fact that Adalind’s baby was extremely important. Kelly even explained that Adalind had her powers back which Nick discredited saying he personally removed them. That was when Nick’s mother said she must have gone through a Contaminatio Ritualis in order to get her powers back.

Nick found himself in a car with his mother parked outside Sean’s condo building a little while later. Things happened so fast from that point, Nick had made it up to the condo and talked to Sean and almost made it down to the ground floor when his mother phoned in that Verrat were on their way up. Cursing to himself, Nick pressed the button to head back up while he dialed Sean’s number and detailed the situation. Between the two of them they managed to get-

“Breakfast?” Juliette’s voice rang through Nick’s thoughts.

“No.” Nick replied and even to himself he sounded curt. It’s how it has been for the past week and he wasn’t sure if he was sorry for it or not. He added, “I-I’m sorry. I’m going to go for a walk before work.”

“Be safe!” Juliette called out before the door closing muffled anything else.

“Yeah, it’s not like I was a police officer before becoming a Grimm or anything…” Nick said to himself full of melancholy.

Placing his hands inside his pockets, Nick continued to walk in the brisk morning with his thoughts returning towards the apex of his current despair. Trubel came into Nick and Juliette’s life as another Grimm after Nick helped dispatch the Verrat in Sean's building. It wasn’t long after that when he found himself killing a Lebensauger who was kidnapping young girls and forcing them to steal. It was all because Trubel was able to infiltrate the group but she was untrained, inexperienced, and just over-all naïve. Shit hit the fan during the wedding between Monroe and Rosalee when Trubel showed up scaring all the Wesen but that didn’t seem to register high on Nick’s Shit-o-Meter. The fact that Nick was no longer a Grimm weighed heavily on his mind.

During the ride home, Hank called Nick confirming Trubel’s information on Sean being shot in Nick's house. Nick didn’t want to believe it when Trubel explained in the chapel, but now with Hank’s confirmation, Nick felt a pain in his chest that he couldn’t explain. He wanted to go to the hospital and check on _his_ Captain but he knew that he needed to do damage control first. That started with the house he shared with Juliette and the blood that was everywhere. Nick was in the middle of scrubbing the wooden floors at the bottom of the steps when his phone went off giving him information on a case.

The case ended with the capture of a Gedächtnis Esser that only Trubel could identify. Nick kept feeling more and more useless and with of the negative thoughts that Sean’s shooting spurned in him, Nick felt like a giant ray of sunshine, not. Sean had magically recovered during the middle of the investigation and Nick felt like a giant weight was lifted off of his shoulders. Later in that day he visited him personally before Hank could accompany him. Sean’s eyes were downcast and Nick almost wondered if he was sleeping. His chest was rising and falling evenly and Nick just lost himself in the sound of it, tuning out the hospital buzz outside the door.

Nick walked up to the hospital bed, allowing his eyes to study the police captain. A sigh of relief escaped Nick’s lips as he noticed Renard’s eyes were indeed fully shut. Sean’s natural scent wafted through the disinfectant enriched hospital room and before Nick noticed, his index finger delicately drew a line along the back of Renard’s hand and up his forearm until it reached his slightly exposed collar bone. Nick pulled his hand back like he was burned from the touch. He couldn’t even tell if it was a good warm feeling or one that was too hot and painful. At that moment Sean’s mouth started moving and Nick had to listen closely in order to hear what he was saying in his sleep.

Nick’s face was inches away from Sean’s and still he could barely make out what his Captain was saying, “Ni-Nick…Ma-Martin…”A fierce blush ran across Nick’s cheeks at the mention of his name as he ran out of the hospital and went back to the precinct to follow up on the call earlier in the morning.

A buzzing sensation in Nick’s pocket awoke him from his thoughts on who  _Martin_ was, the name Sean said after his own in the hospital. Nick grabbed his phone and answered briskly, “Burkhardt.”

“We have another weird one…” Wu stated, completely ignoring Nick’s foul mood.

“On my way.” Nick sighed into the receiver. Was Sean’s mother really trust worthy? Was what Nick had to do with Ada- no, Juliette necessary to get his Grimm abilities back? Whatever happened, Nick had a job to do now and he needed some sense of normalcy at the moment.

~~~

“Interesting that you called out for…Nick was it? Before you called out for Meisner…” Renard’s mother sounded from a corner in his personal hospital room.

“Mother…” Sean let a little warning show in his voice.

Elizabeth tried to look coy as she responded, “What? Aren’t you glad I saved your life? The least you could do is explain who this Nick is. I’m aware of your time with Martin while you were in Europe but-”

“You’re a Grandmother… Her name is Diana.” Sean interrupted his mother’s tirade with that bit of information.

Elizabeth’s features softened a little as she asked, “Where is she?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. But there is something else I need you to look into.” Sean explained.

“You know I will find her right? Diana.” Elizabeth stated matter-of-factly.

Sean knew his mother would go to the ends of the Earth looking for Diana, but he wanted her- no, he _needed_ her to help Nick. The dream that showed him a possible future was still hovering the in the back of his mind. He still had questions however, as the information that was given to him in the dream still confused him a bit. Which Royal family was to be destroyed and how was it going to come about? Renard brought his hand up to his face to try and calm the headache that was forming between his brows.

“Nick is _my_ Grimm, Mother. I-I need him.” Sean said and silently cursed himself for the stutter, it made him sound weak.

His mother’s eyes became soft but only for a split second before smacking him against his cheek lightly, saying, “You are strong, Sean. You don’t _need_ anyone.”

“Adalind took away Nick’s Grimm powers with a spell or curse-” Sean started to explain when the door opened and Monroe and Rosalee walked in.

“We need to know what was in that potion you were going to give to Nick so we can…” Monroe sputtered off quickly before he saw Sean’s mother standing next to the bed.

“Monroe, Rosalee, this is my Mother, Elizabeth. She can help you two get Nick’s powers back. I’ll take you to the place where Adalind made the spell.” Sean explained and motioned to get out of the bed.

“No, you are in no condition to leave this hospital yet. I’ll go with these two and help yo- the Grimm.” Elizabeth stated and had to correct her sentence when Sean flashed her serious eyes meaning that the two Wesen in front of her knew nothing of Sean’s motives. When Monroe stated something inconsequential like tearing her away from her son, she raised her hand to quiet him and responded, “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”

Sean saw the calculating eyes of his mother and knew she wanted to get more information. She needed to know more about Nick and his relationship with Sean. Sighing to himself, Sean had hoped to busy her with finding Nick’s mother as opposed to trying to work though Sean’s small relationship with Nick. Whatever the case, Elizabeth was intrigued enough by what was going on here to stay and help, which was more than he could ask of her.

~~~

Sean looked up from his home laptop, the sound of his door opening roused him from his thoughts of that hospital morning and the calculating look in his mother’s eyes. She had done nothing out of the ordinary with his eyes on her but she was one hell of a chess player, meaning she had motives and moves that wouldn’t be seen until she deemed him ready for the details. That specific trait is what allowed her to live this long, outside of the Royal family and it was one he hoped she passed down to him through birth.

“Mother.” Sean said in greeting.

“It’s done. This witches hat though could possibly be one of the original trente-sept from the Malleus Maleficarum. It was a brutal time for our ancestors, which is why you should treat this hat with proper respect. You never know, it might come in handy. Here you keep it.” Elizabeth stated her little history lesson to Sean.

“When are you leaving?” Sean asked gently.

“Not sure, but it would be best for us to say good-bye now. You need to be more careful Sean. I expect to see my grand-daughter too.” Elizabeth explained.

Sean knew he needed to be more careful, and now that his own mother helped Nick get his Grimm abilities back that they would be closer than how they left it. Out loud he said, “I plan on it.”

Elizabeth didn’t stop there though, she continued saying, “Kelly will be in contact with Nick and you should be ready for that.”

Sean saw that glint in her eyes meaning that she had done something more than she let on. Instead of calling her out on it, Sean just stated, “I will.”

Several hours later, Sean found himself typing away at random cases, closing and filing them accordingly. It was busy work and he knew it had to be done even though he could probably do it with his eyes closed. That was about how much effort he was putting into it anyways, with his thoughts scouring over the past few days his mother was in town. What could she have possibly done. _What could possibly have Kelly Burkhardt drop her guard and call Nick?_ Sean thought to himself as he continued to type. Suddenly the door to his office was opened allowing him a few moments of human interaction.

To Sean’s surprise it was Nick and Hank who walked in, although it wasn’t a total surprise, Nick tended to forget that Sean was still his Captain but at the moment that didn’t matter. He needed to know if Nick was _cured_ from Adalind’s vindictive spell or not. There was the simple solution of just inducing a _woge_ in front of him but that might have negative connotations along with it. And with a moment to think on it, that would have been the first thing the Blutbadt would’ve done, no thought required.

“Three kidnapping cases are linked. The victims are being kidnapped and then sacrificed by Phansigars to Kali every three years.” Hank explained.

“Since they only took Dix, they still need a woman to complete their ritual.” Nick added onto the end of Hank’s statement.

 _Ugh, that voice…how he missed it_ , Sean thought before Wu walked in and said something about the figurines being made in a junkyard. He handed the two men the address and before Sean realized it, they were gone. They left Renard alone in his office with the mounted paperwork and a feeling that Nick still wasn’t back to his regular self. The spell could take some time to take effect since it was basically returning a lost portion of his soul but still, Nick hadn’t even offered a thanks or a report on his own health.

Sean sat back down in his chair and continued to close cases and file them properly while his thoughts returned to brooding over his mother's intentions.

~~~

The pain in Nick’s head felt like a heated ice pick was being shoved through behind his eyes. Then he heard it briefly, the voice in the back of his mind, the other presence that he inherited from his Aunt. He felt it too, the calming state of mind he tended to slip into when he was chasing a wesen or saving an innocent that required more than what he could do as a human. _You are not human…_ Nick said to himself as two Phansigar grabbed him and pulled him in front of JP, their father.

“I’ll take care of it…” JP said to the two others, before he woged.

Nick felt relief drown out any other feelings as he saw the real face of JP shine through, even when his tongue circled around Nick’s throat. Nick heard his own voice state slowly, “You’re done.”

Before Nick realized what was going on, he had landed an upper-cut while holding onto JP’s tongue, in effect ripping his tongue out. One of the other two gasped something about Nick being a Grimm and Nick knew his other-self had answered for him as he easily dispatched the other two Phansigar. All giddy, Nick approached the pits and peered in, seeing Monroe and Hank still doing okay.

“I’m _back._ ” Nick emphasized the word to his friends before helping them out of the holes.

Later that night Nick and Hank were back in Renard’s office filling him on the night’s events. Hank left before Nick, allowing him some privacy so he could inform his Captain of the good news. The dream-nightmare he had during the Adalind fiasco brought some heat to Nick’s cheek’s as he remembered what the now known spell used his strange infatuation with Sean to get him to sleep with Juliette who in turn, turned out to be Adalind.

Sean quirked a well-manicured eyebrow towards Nick, forcing him to gulp a moment before Nick stated with a real smile, “My powers are back.”

Nick witnessed Sean’s eyes soften a moment and wondered if his Captain was going to come closer to him or not. Sean’s body tensed, meaning that Nick knew his boss wanted to be closer but couldn’t in the current situation, instead he said softly, “Welcome back…”

Nick smiled back at Sean and realized it was a warm, soft, and _real_ smile. Sean had managed to pull that smile out of him and Nick wasn’t sure if he was mad at that. It made him feel a little giddy, like he was back in college or at the Police Academy. Nick nodded in agreement and walked out of the office, a little pep in his step from the encounter. He needed to go enlighten Rosalee, Trubel, and Juliette with the outcome of the night and he was happy to do it, unless Monroe had beat him to it.

~~~

 _No…_ Sean thought as Juliette reverted back to her normal self. She was a Hexenbiest now. Juliette said that it first happened during then night Monroe was kidnapped by the Wesenrein. What’s more, Juliette wanted to get rid of the gift she was given. She was even more powerful than she realized. There was only one way Sean could think of possibly helping the woman and he told her that it was a long shot. She agreed reluctantly before leaving Sean with thoughts on how this was going to affect his plans with Nick and Martin and decided that Juliette was an overall good person and he would try his best for her. For all he knew, she could become a powerful ally.

Later in the day Sean picked up Juliette at her place after Nick got called in for a case. It was all very cloak and dagger and Sean realized that she hadn’t told Nick what was currently going on with her. It was a pretty big secret she was keeping, equally as damning as when Nick was hiding the fact that he was a Grimm. The situation seemed reversed now and the Police Captain could do nothing but spectate and help where he could. Getting good points in his favor with Juliette wasn’t a bad place to start. They made their way to the café they were supposed to get in contact with his source, a Hexenbiest who had no loyalties to anyone but herself. The only time she came out of hiding was when something piqued her interest, and a human turned Kehrseite-Schlich-Kennen turned Hexenbiest was definitely something interesting.

Sean was torn from his thoughts when he heard an explosion in front of him. Apparently he was on auto-pilot while he tried to figure out everything that had happened in the past twelve hours. It seemed like Juliette almost got ran over by a human who didn’t have his priorities in order and when he totally gave her the cold shoulder, she woged and blew up his engine. He quickly jumped out of the car and ran up to a mumbling Juliette who was asking something along the lines if she was responsible for the car exploding.

“Let’s go get that coffee now…” Sean said to Juliette who was still in shock.

“So who is it you want me to contact?” Juliette asked over her coffee.

“You need to memorize this number as soon as I write it.” Sean explained.

“Okay…” Juliette said drawn out.

Sean gave his most serious stare at the young woman, “Seriously, are you ready?”

“Yes.” Juliette said in a serious tone.

Sean wrote the phone number down and watched as Henrietta’s digits randomly danced around the napkin until it was illegible. He had to give the ancient Hexenbiest credit for the massive spell she cast on herself for protection. She wasn’t loyal to anyone but herself, a true Hexenbiest who was afraid their past catching up to them. The Captain looked at Juliette who was now wide eyed staring at the piece of paper.

“Did you just do that?” she asked a little perplexed.

Sean couldn’t help himself but smile a little as he replied, “No, _that_ was Henrietta.”

~~~

“Damnit, why do _I_ have to pierce my ear?” Nick complained as Hank heated up a needle in the car.

“You’re the Grimm!” Wu stated from one of the other seats as he tried to calm the girl who had called them.

“I’m going to pierce it on the count of three; one, two-” Hank stated.

“Ow!” Nick hissed as Hank skipped three.

“The anticipation is always worse than the actual act, here’s the frog skin. Enjoy.” Hank stated as he handed the bottle and it’s content’s to Nick.

Nick popped the lid and sniffed the elixir, which was a mistake. It reeked of death and strange herbs that Nick couldn’t place. He steeled his nerves and put a couple fingers in the goop, however he couldn’t stifle the groan that exited his throat. It was slimy and cold and just gross. An involuntary shiver ran up his spine as he finally pulled that concoction out into the air. Somehow the rancid scent was worse and he had to put _this_ on, no- _in_ the piercing on his ear. _You know it has to be done…_ Nick heard the voice that his other self used to hassle him.

“Eugh…” Nick squirmed, rubbing the gel in his ear.

There were lights going off upstairs and that’s where Nick and Hank went, knowing that Paul was hidden somewhere in the room. They rushed up the stairs and then Nick grabbed Hank’s hand, silently telling him to allow Nick to take the lead. Hank reluctantly allowed Nick to go first although with the “miracle goop” he was supposed to be immune the electricity the Matança Zumbido discharged. With innocents in the room, there was no more need for hesitation, so on an adrenaline boost, Nick propelled himself into the room and got Stetson’s attention while Hank got the boy and widow out of the room. When Stetson tried to fry Nick, the electricity had absolutely no effect on him. With a couple of moves, Nick easily knocked Stetson unconscious. However Lily managed to shoot Stetson in the back, ineffect, killing him.

Back at the precinct, Nick ended up walking into Renard and says with a smile that he couldn’t suppress, “Matança Zumbido caught and all it took was some amphibian juju and a pierced ear.”

Sean turned around at the comment and faced Nick. He had been in his own little world wondering how Juliette’s meeting with Henrietta was going. He took the time to notice that there was indeed a little bit of dried blood on Nick’s right ear lobe. A strange sensation to take Nick into the bathroom to clean the blood off with his tongu- _water_ was very appealing. This was one step into the future he was privy to in his dream.

“Good police work there Detective…” Sean said as he motioned to walk past Nick. Against his better judgement, Sean smirked and whispered as he passed by his Grimm, “You should keep the piercing. It look’s good on you... Who knows? You might have to face another Matança Zumbido in the future.”

That last bit was just a precaution if Nick found his advance on him inappropriate. If anything Nick knew he would have the keep the piercing just in case it was warranted in the future, to protect innocents. Smiling as he left the precinct for the night Sean made it home and grabbed a tumbler of scotch. Juliette’s problem had resurfaced to the front of his mind as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. What was he going to do with her… That thought stopped him as he noticed red bleeding from the inside of his shirt. Sean placed the tumbler onto the table under the mirror and walked into the bathroom. There wasn’t any pain but he needed to understand what was going on. With nimble fingers, Sean unbuttoned and removed his shirt revealing the three gunshots from that paid off FBI agent working for the family. When he rubbed his fingers across the healed bullet wounds, the blood smeared but showed no break in skin.

“What the hell?” Sean asked himself as he continued to look at the seeping blood.

He would have to ask his mother what she did to him the next day. He couldn’t very well run a precinct with blood running out of invisible wounds in the middle of the day. The amount of shirts he’d go through… not to mention the dry cleaning bill… No, his first concern was how Nick would react, and now that Juliette was a Hexenbiest how would that affect his Grimm. For all Sean knew Juliette still hadn’t explained her situation to Nick. There was still so much that had to be done and this was going to be a temporary setback.

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Found a way to get the images onto ao3.org! just had to make a link and will add in the next chapter! Comment please! I appriciate all you readers ^_~


	8. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Different Point of View for this chapter! Going to be doing it in First person which is new to me. As always, I beta myself so all errors are my own. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

My mouth opened in a wide yawn. It had been a while since I last managed to get a full nights sleep. Juliette was still comatose next to me and that was fine. She had been acting distant over the past few days and I wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good thing. We were still friendly one another but something was… off, and I wondered what exactly that was. _It’s time for work_ , my mind chided me for the delay by contemplating matters.

Reluctantly, I moved out of bed, wishing that I had the grace I possessed like when I was in the middle of a fight. My muscles were sore as I motioned to turn on the hot water in the shower. I turned my attention to the mirror while the water heated up and studied my own reflection. The skin under my eyes was darker than I last noticed and I was way past a 5’oclock shadow. When the steam from the shower started to fog the mirror I pulled my shirt over my head, taking the time to stretch and then removed my sweats.

The hot water felt magnificent as it chased away my dreariness of the nights sleep. Heated water blanketed my whole body. God, showers were wonderful; they always managed to make you forget what was happening around you. However they always had time constraints on them, for instance, the fact that I had to go to work made this blissful moment come to an end far sooner than I really wanted it to. My hand was fighting against me as I raised it to the dial to stop the flowing water. The immediate lack of hot water made goose bumps appear on my skin as I grabbed one of the fluffy thick towels outside the shower curtain and wrapped myself in it.

I was back to staring at myself in the fogged mirror before grabbing a washcloth to wipe away the condensation. Now that I could see myself clearly again, I continued my daily routine of personal grooming. I looked at how my body appeared in the reflective glass and wondered what made me special in Renard’s eyes. I never understood what people liked or disliked, the only thing I understood was when people were lying to me, with the exception of my boss. My skin was pale; my muscles were even on the soft side as opposed to the hard muscle like the Captain. Even so, it seemed like I was getting leaner since I awoke as a Grimm.

I left the room, fully clothed and my shield was on my belt opposite of my weapon holster. It seemed like I was running on auto-pilot as I drove towards the precinct. Even if I wasn’t called in this morning for an emergency, there was always paperwork that needed filing. And maybe, just maybe, the excessive amount of work would keep my mind busy. When I reached my desk, I noticed that Hank wasn’t in yet and Wu hadn’t even tried to hassle me yet either. Hesitantly, I looked over my shoulder towards Sean’s office and noticed him pacing back and forth as he always did when he was deep in thought.

Should I go over and see what might be bothering him? Or should I stay and let him come to me? I sighed and shook my head slightly; if I waited for Sean Renard to come to me for help I would be old and greying. I decided to swallow my own pride and walked to the office and knocked hesitantly. It actually seemed like Sean didn’t hear the me for a moment as the pacing continued despite the noise from the knocking.

I tried knocking harder and called out, “Captain.”

Sean managed to stop pacing long enough to look up at me and then a moment longer to give a hand motion welcoming me to walk in. I cupped the door knob, shocked that it was cold to the touch, regardless of the heat that was on in the station. I steeled my nerves as I opened the door and walked in, catching sight of _my_ Captain picking up where he left off pacing as if I didn’t disturb him in the least. I took my perch as I normally did after closing the door to the office, leaning back against the little desk off to the side and just watched him. He was full of grace, even if he was just pacing he managed to make it look graceful.

Sean had his grey suit jacket hanging on the back of his chair, the matching grey slacks made no sound as he walked back and forth. The shirt that he decided to wear was a soft Easter pink. I didn’t think anyone could pull off that soft of a color until I saw him. Sean’s natural tan complexion was perfect for it. The way it stretched over his sculpted chest and fell on his small waist. I don’t know when but it felt like it was getting even warmer in the room, I felt blood starting to rush to my head. There had to be something really bothering the Captain for him to keep spacing out like this.

“Sir?” I managed to ask after totally scoping out Sean.

Sean stopped for a second time, looking like he wasn’t sure why I was even in there. He asked, “Burkhardt, what do you need?”

“What is troubling you Cap- Sean..?” I asked trying to make the talk a little more personable.

Captain Renard sighed and brushed his hand through his hair and for a moment, I wondered what it would feel like to run my own fingers through those thick locks. He took a seat behind his desk and sat there contemplating how he was going to answer me. Whatever was troubling the Prince seemed to weigh heavily on his shoulders and I wanted to help him, I _needed_ to help him. It seemed like I was being left in the dark with matters lately and I didn’t like it.

All I could do was study Renard who seemed like he was finding something extremely interesting on his desk and refused to look at me. I prompted again, “Captain?”

Sean looked up then, his brown/green eyes with the foreign gold specks floating around the iris. He inhaled and said, “There are somethings that I can’t explain…”

I didn’t know what to make of that as I continued to watch those golden flecks swirl around Sean’s pupils. When I thought of something to say, I noticed red was seeping through the pink shirt and my feet were moving before I even manage to think on it. I realized I was going to Sean and he had a questioning look on his face. I forgot a moment that the blinds were open and quickly turned back to see the rest of the station still puttering around. I moved around the office and closed all the blinds.

“Burkhardt?” Sean asked from behind me.

Once all the blinds were closed I turned back to Sean and made my way to his side. He watched me with his eyes narrowing, speculating. I didn’t even know if Sean was going to like what I was about to do, but it didn’t matter. Instincts were telling me something was wrong, worse than that the little voice in the back of my mind was telling me something was off. I wanted what was going to happen to be civil and I had a moment of thinking about just asking politely and Sean would explain everything in that neutral tone he always used.

What actually happened was me walking over to him, noticing that my mind had blocked out all thought, a trait that happened when I allowed my other-self to take control. Except this time, I _was_ in control and I hefted Sean out of his chair and brought him to a wall where I ripped off that soft pink shirt revealing three lines of blood conspicuously located where the shots were from the time he nearly died. Adrenaline was pumping at the thought of _my_ Captain being hurt. I wiped the blood away expecting there to be a wound, unconscious of the fact that I was rubbing Sean’s sculpted chest.

“W-Where?! Where is the blood coming from?!” I heard my voice, wondering about the serious note it had taken. It promised pain to the person who was responsible for causing my Prince pain.

“Burkhardt…” Sean’s voice was soft, so unlike the normal Captain I knew.

“Where?!” I stated again, voice still deadly serious.

“Nick-” Sean stated again.

“Where…” I asked, the venom in my voice was gone and my hands, still covered in Sean’s blood, were now pawing limply at his chest. Tears seemed to rim my eyes and a few of the treacherous drops fell onto his blood painted chest. I couldn’t lose him, the thought of what happened on Monroe and Rosalee’s wedding nearly broke me. Now, here at the precinct Sean was bleeding without warning, without a knowable cause.

It seemed like Sean was contemplating what he was going to do or say, his body was rigid and I could feel him flexing his hands open and closed. I felt like an idiot there, bawling like I was a high school kid. Then I felt it, Sean’s arms moved to rest on my back, it wasn’t quite an embrace but it was nice. I realized in that moment that I fit perfectly against his taller frame. I realized that my feelings were betraying me, my other self might have had more control than I realized as I felt my mouth moving what’s worse was the fact that my voice was coming through it.

“I can’t…I can’t lose you…” my voice said. It was hard hearing those words out loud as opposed to just thinking them. It made them more real rather than just a passing thought.

Sean seemed to become rigid at my confession but he relaxed a heartbeat later and replied, his breath running along the back of my neck, raising the little hairs there, “Nick… I know. I’m looking into this I promise. I have to get back in contact with my mother and ask her about the side effects of-”

Sean went rigid again as he was explaining his plan, he even cut off his sentence which meant he was hiding something. I looked up into Sean’s eyes something sad was hiding there and I wanted to know what it was. It was only the two of us in his office, miraculously, so I wanted answers. I stepped back a little bit, just so I could look at him squarely and he wouldn’t be able to hide by avoiding my gaze.

“Side effects? Side effects of what exactly?” and to my credit my voice sounded more grounded, more my usual self.

“You don’t want-” Renard started before I interrupted him.

“Don’t! Tell me what is causing this!” I poked at the now drying blood before I added, “I can’t help you if you keep me out of the loop Sean! I need information… I’m tired of being kept in the dark. …Please-”

Sean interrupted me this time by hugging me tightly, something inside me softened in the embrace and I heard him whisper, his mouth pressed next to my pierced ear, “Thank you…”

“Sean?” I asked questioningly as a new sensation sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine. Sean had licked the soft spot of skin behind my ear before he brought my pierced lobe into his mouth. My brain died, there was no cognitive thought being processed. What was I in here for again? A groan escaped my lips which was interesting but totally normal seeing as how I haven’t had any intimate, no matter how small, contact in a long while.

“Sean…” my voice was now a whisper, there was something… he was distracting me from. I put my hands back on my Captain’s bare chest and felt the flakes of dried blood and it registered then.

“Please tell me…” the phrase came out more as a plea than a statement.

Sean stopped using his tongue to distract me then and pulled back a little. It took everything in my passion addled brain to not follow him so I could stay wrapped in his warmth. He looked at me though, gauging me. And then Sean turned around towards a wooden locker in the back corner of his office. I knew that he usually kept his dress uniform in there in case a huge and usually brutal case was solved and he needed to impress the higher ups, congressmen, and the press.

He shed the torn shirt and pulled out an equally soft colored blue dress shirt. As he started to pull it on he said, “I died, Nick.”

“You what?!” I asked, not able to keep the surprise from my voice. I walked over to him, it seemed like he thought better of putting the shirt on while he was still bloody and tossed it onto his desk.

Sean stayed where he was but turned to grab some wipes from the locker to clean the blood off, showing his naturally tanned skin, before he turned back to me continuing to explain, “Officially, I was dead for three minutes. The Kehrseite doctors tried everything they could, short of injecting my heart with adrenaline; which I don’t think they condone in hospitals. My mother used a two headed snake charm to bring me back to life although it took a heavy toll on her own body…”

I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Sean Renard, Bastard Prince, Captain of the Police Department- died. It couldn’t be true although knowing that Sean’s mother was a Hexenbiest could explain everything really. Maybe Rosalee would be able to explain what charm Elizabeth used to… bring Sean back to life. It was something I could consider since I didn’t think the tomes in the trailer would be of any use for practical magic. No, the books in there were more or less for combating Wesen, not trying to understand them.

Sean clapped his hands on my shoulders, bringing me out of my own thoughts. He asked, “Say something, please?”

It took me a moment to realize that I was staring at Sean’s bare chest, framed in the soft-blue shirt that he must have started to put on while I was thinking. I started to button it from the bottom, distracting my mind about the fact that Sean was half naked earlier. I told my Captain, “I’ll see what I can find out through Rosalee, just in case you can’t get a hold of your mother. Was there anything else you had on your mind?”

Sean dropped his hands to his side and contemplated again as I continued to button up the dress shirt. He sighed and said, “I think my mother did something to Juliette in order to get Kelly back in town so she can meet Diana…”

“Of course she did…” I sighed, finishing with the last button. I guess I could count myself lucky that Sean decided not to wear a tie today.

“She’s really excited about being a grandmother… I guess she honestly thought she was never going to be one since I’m…” Sean explained and then trailed off as there was a knock on the office door.

I should have known that we would be interrupted eventually. I mean, we were in the middle of the precinct and the real world would burst our little private bubble. Sean called for whoever knocked to come on in, allowing me to retreat back to my spot on the opposite side of the room. Sgt Wu entered and eyed me questioningly before he shrugged and brought a file to Renard. He stood there, bouncing his eyes back and forth between the Captain and me.

“I see.” Sean stated from his desk, placing the file down temporarily. He then turned his attention to me saying, “There are multiple homicides on the other side of town. Phone Hank to meet you there and Sgt. Wu will accompany you.”

Work. Of course. Not like there was anything else that I needed to talk to Sean about anyways. I replied with a curt nod and went back to my desk just to pick up my coat. I knew Wu was right behind me, already wearing his Portland PD windbreaker. On the way to my car, I briefly wondered if this was going to be wesen related or if it was going to be a normal multi-homicide for once. Knowing my luck, it was most likely going to be wesen related and the Grimm side of me was looking forward to a hunt after the last few weeks I had.

~~~

“This is a mess…” Hank said from behind me as I walked towards one of the many bodies. Wu was right when he said multiple homicides.

The bodies were mauled; there was no question about it. Bite marks, claw marks, even limbs were missing from some of them. Sgt. Wu said with what I guess was an attempt at humor, “Dog fighting ring gone wrong?”

I didn't know how to reply to that comment as I neared the first of many bodies. I could imagine the Grimm part of myself dancing a jig in the back of my mind. It seemed like he, no- I got my wish. There will be a chase and there were wesen involved; I could go all out. The sides of my mouth twitched up in a small smile.

 

"Are you… smiling?" Wu said from behind me.

 

I couldn't stop my train of thought as I said, "This is wesen..."

 

"Still creepy man..." Wu started as he walked up beside me. He finished silently, "We're at a crime scene dude..."

  

I couldn't help the smile, I was genuinely happy for a chance to chase down some wesen. How much of that was me or my Grimm counterpart was up for a debate. However, I needed something to take my mind off of everything that was happening around me and hopefully let me work through my feelings. There was something off about the limbs and torsos of the corpses. Red raised flesh was frozen in the timeless death and there were bruises marring spots that existed before the creatures were killed. It was curious but it didn’t detract from the thought of me finally getting to hunt something.

~~~

I looked at the file on my desk explaining the scene that all the other detectives and beat cops were struggling over for the past week. There were indeed a lot of bodies but then again I haven’t seen Nick so full of life; he was even smiling widely as he practically bounced around the precinct. It was all… _cute_. I don’t even remember the last time that I used that term of adornment. A laugh escaped my lips as I watched my Grimm walk out of my precinct with some distinct lumps on his forearms and ankles; he even had a small silver ring dangling out of his earlobe.

 

“He’s going out for a hunt…” I said to my empty office, removing my fingers from in between the blinds. Then something occurred to me… I quickly pulled my phone out and dialed a number by heart. On the second ring the other line picked up and I smiled and replied, “It’s me, Nick is going out hunting… there is something off. Yes. No, I don’t have anything to prove my thoughts are true- Look. It doesn’t matter. Put three guards on his tail. Yes. Make sure he doesn’t know anything.” And just before I was about to hang up I added, “Check in with me if anything turns out to be interesting. Contact me regardless in three hours.” Then I shut the burner phone and put it back in my pocket.

Could Nick have found a trail and decided not to tell anyone? I don’t even know what could have done this to all the wesen and humans that were mixed in the crime scene photos. My own guard detail were combing through the wesen community trying to figure out what was going on. The only information I was able to gleam through their efforts was that a group of wesen had come into my territory in the past couple of weeks. Could they have gotten bored and ended up mauling the victims that they had abducted? No, there were some pretty tough looking bodies in the mix... the victims must have willingly walked into that building and ended up being slaughtered. I didn’t even know what type or _types_ of wesen were involved with the group and neither did anyone else in my territory.

“Damnit Nick…” I cursed softly as I went back to my computer and the file of death sitting on my desk. Nick should be fine, he had a four man protective detail and he, himself was a force to be reckoned with.

~~~

I was so giddy about finding a lead, thanks to Rosalee and her prior connections with wesen gang members, that I totally missed the four man detail that was following me. They were in suits and that meant they were sent to follow me by Sean. It was nice that he worried about me but honestly? I am a Grimm and I had enough pinned up frustration in my body that four or five wesen would be no match for me. I let them continue their task, no point in worrying my Captain. If this allowed him to sleep better tonight, it was worth it.

The information that Rosalee gave me sent me to an abandoned eight story apartment complex that was made of red brick. Graffiti tags adorned the building alongside boarded up windows and a chain linked fence barring all intruders. I walked off to a side alley and expected to see any type of guard but all that was waiting for me was a rusted fire escape that looked questionable at best. There were windows back here too but they were all barred on the first floor making it so I couldn’t enter through the windows. A steel back door was chained and locked which seemed legit since the building was indeed abandoned. _Should I attempt the fire escape?_ I asked myself, eyeing the rusted scrap metal of a fire escape.

“There has to be…” I said quietly to myself as I scoped out the alley way until I came across a basement entrance, “another way…”

I jogged lightly over to the entry way and smiled. There was an old and a very rusted lock keeping me away from my prey. With little effort I slammed the butt of a hunting knife I pulled from my boot and the lock practically crumbled. I kept the knife in hand, wondering if I should have pulled out my gun instead but my other self wanted up-close and personal, which I was happy to agree with in my current state of mind. In my other hand I grabbed a mini mag light and switched it on as I walked down a flight of concrete stairs into the gang's lair.

It was indeed dark and dank in this basement but that didn’t seem to bother me as I flicked the mag-lite around, trying to gauge my where-abouts. Broken furniture, miscellaneous rusted bed frames, and cobwebs were covering everything was all I could see until the light swiped over some wooden stairs. Strangely there weren’t any sounds coming from the building except for the light press of my own feet on dust and dirt. Even the creaking of the wooden steps seemed to echo in the silence as I ascended towards ground level.

Briefly, I wondered if my guard detail followed me down this rabbit hole. I didn’t give it much room to mature however, as I silently opened the door at the top of the steps. I turned my flashlight off and turned myself over to my Grimm side as I inhaled deeply trying to center myself. When I opened my eyes, it was like there was a full moon somewhere inside the building illuminating the darkness, but not like it was in the middle of the day. With my hunting knife in hand, I opened the door and to its credit, the door made no sound. This ground floor was just as filthy and disheveled as the basement. This building was looking less and less inhabited as I continued to look. It seemed like Rosalee’s tip wasn’t going to be panning out.

“There you are…” I whispered as I noticed foot prints in the mounds of dust and dirt from people walking back and forth and from the look of it multiple people, maybe seven or eight easily.

Adrenaline was pumping in my veins and I had to rein myself in so I wouldn’t go sprinting up the next staircase and run into an ambush. No, I needed to bide my time before I go slicing my way through whatever tore those people up in the warehouse. Actually there should have been more than one staircase leading up and it was better to use the one least used. Who knows? Maybe the guard detail might throw off my scent while I take the road least traveled. I walked around a bit more and unfortunately didn’t find another set of stairs but I ran into an elevator with half the door missing.

“Looks like I’ll be climbing then…” I whispered again to the empty first floor.

I can’t believe I was going to do something I’ve only seen in movies but with all the energy I had piling within me it was going to be a piece of cake. I placed my hands on the closest elevator cable and not surprisingly it was still firm and easily held my weight. By the time it seemed like I reached the second or even halfway to the third floor when I heard gun shots and snarling. Yep, definitely wesen noises, my blood continued to pump harder with extra adrenaline, the anticipation of a confrontation finally.

I had two choices, barrel in through the second floor elevator doors and take advantage of the confusion… or go through the third floor and sneak up and surprise them from behind. Choices, choices… I went with the more reluctant part of myself and climbed further up to the third floor. With my enhanced strength, I was able to pry open the elevator doors on the third floor and climbed out into the darkened hallway. Making my way towards the stairs, I noticed that the sounds of the fighting seemed to have disappeared.

There was darkness that looked thicker than normal, obscuring even my enhanced vision. I brought out my knife again and also my handgun just in case. It was eerily quiet as I descended the steps and for a moment I wondered if I was the only one left in the building. There were some noises coming from the piles of bodies around my feet. Some were in their human forms which meant they were either dead or unconscious. Hundjägen and Coyotl were amongst the unconscious or deceased. It was safe to say the Hundjägen were Sean’s protective detail sent to look after me and the Coyotl were the baddies.

 _Dear me, someone’s stolen all the fun._ My inner monologue started and sounded a little annoyed. Just then a sound came from behind me and I rounded with the knife which sliced through flesh cleanly. There was a howl and a change in the air pressure in front of me as I barely managed to dodge a clawed hand. I rounded the gun and fired two shots into the chest of my assailant and he dropped flat. More sounds came from my right and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. One of the Coyotl’s jumped at me and with a side-step I dodged it easily but the other one ended up going towards my legs.

Blood splattered up my arm from the slash I raked across the second wesen’s body. He ended up flailing to the ground as other sounds of someone tripping on bars or something turned my attention just in time to bring up my arm to block a set of Coyotl jaws. _Good thing you brought the vambrace_ , my other self mocked. I paid it little attention as I bashed the butt of my gun against the wesen’s forehead. He reared back as I hit the hidden switch, revealing the blade and plunged it into his skull.

More sounds echoed around me and I let out a short breath saying, “There’s more?”

It seemed like they were shouting from the elevator’s direction which gave me the option of going up or down on the stairs. I peered over the banister and saw some flashlights shining from below making an escape from the first floor impossible at this point. My only other option was to go up and take my chances with the raggedy fire escape. I had about five rounds left in my gun as I shot another round into someone coming from below, the first, larger wesen fell back and blocked the way, giving me a few more precious seconds.

“It’s the Grimm!” One of the Coyotl wesen stated in a gravelly voice.

Another one sounded with a slightly higher pitched voice, “We can bargain some territory from the Prince if we catch him!”

“I wanna do something else to him before that…” A deeper voice from even the first one stated from the opposite direction of the others. It seemed like he was the leader as no other voices decided to protest or challenge his claim on me.

As I neared the fourth floor I tripped over some discarded cleaning supplies and summersaulted a couple times before rolling to my feet and continued running. I emptied my clip into the last four wesen I ran into on the upper floors and when I thought I was safe, I looked behind me and didn’t notice anyone else behind me. When I turned my attention back to where I was going, a two by four crowded my sight and before I knew it I was on the ground, lying on my back. I think I might have been seeing stars which meant I had a mild concussion at least from the hit but that wasn’t as pressing as seeing two halves of the two by four lying across my stomach.

“Ungh…” I managed to huff out as I tried to take inventory of my injuries.

“Caught ourselves a Grimm!” one of the killer’s stated as he approached, hackling.

I tried to raise my head by that just made the stars worse as a dizzy spell hit me. Three people came into my field of vision and there were two Coyotl and strangely a Mauvais Dentes but as they came closer, they reverted to their human forms. The Mauvais Dentes one was as tall as Sean but bulkier, more like a football player. He had dirty blonde hair and ice blue eyes like the middle of a glacier. There was a five o’clock shadow that seemed to be darker than his hair and his eyebrows matched.

The second one was taller than the football player but was thin as a rail. His hair was dark brown or black and seemed like it was greasy and thin. There were tattoo’s running up his arms and down his chest, the dark ink a huge contrast to his pale skin. His eyes were a light grey, set into a sunken face and were surrounded by purple skin. Either the man wore make-up or had a serious vitamin D deficiency. That or he was really trying hard for a grunge-goth look and was actually pulling it off.

Last but not least was the shorter one, a red head none-the-less. He seemed weirder than the other two but it was mostly because of the trash green color of his eyes and the fact that he seemed to be at least ten years older than the blonde. There was a lot of crazy hidden in their depths and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what made him that way. Maybe it was because I was a Grimm, I pictured the voice that called me out and his matched it. The blonde seemed to me like the one in charge and the Goth kid was just along for the ride.

“Got ‘em with the two by four Rick!” A fourth voice called from in front of where I was lying. I tried to pick my head up again and this time I was successful. The footsteps were light as a kid no more than sixteen came into my view. He was a read-head just like “Rick” he had called. Rick had moved his head up ever so slightly in recognition when the boy called out his name.

“Atta boy Tay.” Rick said in an endearing manner as he ruffled one of his hands into the boy’s unruly copper curls. It was all relatively…strange.

They stripped me of my weapons and placed a rag around my mouth and tied it behind my head. _Look at what you got yourself into now…_ my mind supplied the sarcastic comment. Between the four of them I was sufficiently restrained and moved to a room with a generator supplying a construction light which illuminated everything. This room looked lived in; there were couches and mattresses all over the place and even refrigerators. In the corner of my eye I noticed the Goth Coyotl walk over to an interesting device and when he turned it on I heard the gentle purr of a tattooing needle gun.

“ _if ee rwlly ooing a aatoo?”_ I asked through my gag. Whether they understood me or not was a completely different question.

“Really James? What are you going to add now?” Tay asked and he seemed annoyed at first then genuine curiosity followed.

James looked up from his tattoo gun and replied morosely, “Something to remember our fallen brother’s tonight…”

Rick’s voice came from one of the refrigerators as he chimed in, “I’ll get my pound of flesh from him, don’t worry.”

A hand snaked its way over my shoulder and started to go down my chest as the deeper voice from the blonde rang out next to my ear, “You aren’t going to touch him…”

“But Mitch!” Rick whined as he closed the door to the ice box, throwing a cold beer towards where I was sitting now.

Mitch caught the beer in the other hand that wasn’t groping me and replied, “He can’t be hurt too much… He’s a valuable bargaining chip.”

Tay walked closer to his... Father? Uncle? I didn’t know but he made his way closer to Rick and said in a brazen manner, “He going to be your princess while he’s in your “care” Mitch?”

My eyes widened at the tone he took with the obvious leader. It was like the kid had a death wish. I should have been more concerned about the situation I was in however since I was caught and tied up. Sean’s guards were annihilated and I didn’t know what Mitch had in store for me. Mitch pulled me up by my wrists which were bound behind my back. If I didn’t follow him as he stood, the man could have popped my shoulders out of their sockets.

He tossed the beer that Rick sent flying to him at Tay and approached a different fridge with me in tow. He opened it and withdrew a six pack of different beer as he said, “I’m going to _my_ room. Don’t interrupt me. If you want, contact the _P_ _rince_ and tell him we want territory of our own. If not, he can say good bye to his Grimm.”

I couldn’t see their faces but I could hear the smile in their replies. Rick with a “Hell Yeah!” Tay a “Sure boss.” And James a noncommittal grunt. I wasn’t in the room long after that as Mitch practically dragged me to another room. This room wasn’t lit up with electricity but thick candles which were painting the room with dancing flame. I didn’t know what was going on or why he even brought me into this room. Whatever he was going to do to me he could have done in front of his cronies…

I was placed on a stiff wooden chair, a real basic design, and my arms where slid behind the wooden frame against my back. Mitch pulled up a chair in which he sat down directly opposite of me and he placed the six pack next to him. He brushed his hand down the side of my face and said, “He doesn’t know what he has, does he?”

 _Excuse me?_ I said in my mind, what actually came out was more or less, “eff-ush eh?” I hope my eyes were staring daggers at him.

Mitch opened a beer and took a healthy gulp from the container befor he said with his voice lowered, almost a whisper in the dancing light along the walls, “You know what happened in the warehouse..?”

I didn’t know what he expected me to do with this black cloth gagging me still. I started to shake my head no, but then thought better of it and nodded yes. Mitch finished the beer in his hand; a grim smile played across his face as he explained in the same voice, “Everyone had fun… well, before Rick went a little-”

“ _Cray-vie_?” I muffled through the cloth, which was now getting damper with my saliva.

Mitch smiled at my noises while he grabbed his second beer, just a bare show of teeth as he replied, “He let his beast out a little… Unfortunately, it seems Tay might have the same genetic markers.”

That sentence made my eyebrow quirk a little bit. Maybe Mitch wasn’t as bad as I initially thought. He was more than a dumb gang leader; he had some degree of intelligence to him. There must have been something though, like what happened to the victims _before_ they were mauled. The hand that Mitch used to grope my cheek was back, running down my other cheek and despite my own misgivings, my head seemed to lean into the touch. It was something that made me angry at myself and I briefly wondered if it was the lack of physical contact in the last several months…maybe a year.

“Oh..? Somebody’s a little needy…” Mitch actually purred, his hand continued its track down my chin and his fingers started to expand along my neck until it encompassed my throat, the beer in his other hand completely forgotten.

He tightened his grip around my throat, causing a bit of panic to surface, widening my eyes a fraction. The situation didn’t improve any when his other hand came into view with a switchblade. My heart rate was speeding up and from the look in Mitch’s eyes, he knew about my rising anxiety. His thumb extended and turned my head slightly up and away from where I was looking. The cold metal of the flat part of the knife was drug down the side of my left cheek.

“Ughn!” my voice and body betrayed me, releasing the noises and making me feel aroused.

“Someone’s been seriously neglected haven’t they…” Mitch’s breath ghosted across my skin and with that my body moved closer to him.

I felt his tongue trace the path the cold knife did but this time from bottom up and I practically spasmed. Mitch pulled back and smiled a toothy grin and said, “This is almost too easy! The others in the warehouse were less compliant but you!”

My body was shaking and a drop of sweat made its way down from my temple before it was absorbed into my gag. Mitch pulled the gag downward with his right thumb, bringing my jaw with it. The pain was mild compared to the breath of actual fresh air which turned to a puff of heated air. There was a rumbling sound coming from my captors throat, his right hand still around my throat, his left still wielding the blade, brought it down my shirt where he started to pop the buttons. Cool air brushed over my skin from the open passage Mitch created.

Sounds of the knife hitting the floor echoed around the room as Mitch’s left hand pulled at the knot releasing the gag but that hand moved back quick, covering my mouth. From the corner of my vision I saw his face lower towards my chest. I considered biting the palm of his hand but all thought processes were out the window when Mitch encompassed my nipple in his mouth. My hands strained against my bindings and I tried to concentrate on that pain in order to think through the endorphins the Mauvais Dentes flooded my brain with.

I cried out into that strong hand covering my mouth, it had been too long since I was touched sexually and now at the hand of this stranger it was like my body wasn’t my own. Mitch had introduced his teeth along with his damned tongue which made my erection more prominent against my denim jeans. What’s worse was the fact that my Grimm part seemed to need it just as much as my body did. Maybe that was something that Renard was supposed to fulfill for my Grimm, a physical aspect that I couldn’t find within the human species. Whatever the reason, Mitch’s left hand was suddenly replaced by his mouth and his tongue found its way into my yielding mouth. His tongue attempted to wrestle with my own but I couldn't muster any resistance as the man acted like he was going to devour me.I felt like I was going to explode into the Mauvais Dentes’ mouth as he continued to ravish my own until it was suddenly gone, leaving me gasping and confused. I looked around the room once I could think clearly again, wondering what the hell happened.

“I-I’m sorry Nick… It is getting a little too hard for me to control myself.” Mitch stated with longing in his eyes, as his hands automatically palced the gag back around my face.

I looked back at the man and saw that he had a dark patch of denim along his thigh. Apparently my reactions caused him to cum himself which was entirely too weird, even for me. He stared back at me and said, “There’s still more that I want to do with you but not right now.”

After that statement, Mitch walked back towards me and removed me from my chair and onto a four poster bed which he in-turn tied my legs and arms to each post. As he was leaving he said, “Sean Renard hasn’t been a very good prince if you’re this needy. It’s a shame. Sleep well.”

The door shut behind him and I was then left in the room with the candles still burning. I was wondering if I was going to survive the night or if I was to be burned to death by the candle flame or torn apart like the people in the warehouse. Mitch had said that he wasn’t part of whatever happened to those victims, that Tay and Rick were responsible for that. The Grimm part of me wasn’t offering any survival advice, it seemed like that physical contact was what it wanted and maybe one of the reasons I’ve been pinning after Sean so hard.

 _Sean_ , the thought finally occurred to me. He was going to notice that his guards weren’t returning or staying in contact. There was a possible chance for an escape. I needed more energy and at the moment I was running on almost none. All the adrenaline that was coursing through me earlier had left me drained both physically and mentally. If I was going to be of any use during a rescue then I would, unfortunately, need to get some sleep. Despite my better judgement I tried to drift off, to get some amount of rest since it was the logical thing to do.

When I was almost asleep, the sound of creaking footboards drew my attention. The door to my makeshift prison opened and Rick came through smiling widely. He stated in a sing-song way, “It’s my turn now… Boss man is asleep. Time for devil’s to play.”

“ _Whu_?” I tried to ask behind my gag and he just laughed.

There was a bag of something behind him as he moved closer to me. For some odd reason I didn’t want to know the contents in the case. Rick’s voice and mannerisms were completely different from Mitch and it triggered a flight or fight response immediately awakening my Grimm side. I struggled against my bindings which seemed pointless even with my enhanced strength. Rick pulled over the chair I had been placed in earlier and then he grabbed Mitch’s and set his case on top of that one. He looked at me, still smiling before he turned his attention back to his bag and opened it.

“This is going to be fun…” He said, bringing out what looked like a riding crop, followed by a strange rod with a white tip. There were other tools of his enjoyment and when he finished laying them all out he picked up the strange black rod with the white tip and said, “Don’t be afraid to scream… I actually enjoy it!”

Rick slapped the rod against my stomach and when it initially hit I felt nothing, just plastic, but half a heartbeat later it seemed like electricity had slapped me. It was like the feel of a 12v battery on my tongue except instead of my tongue going numb the area where he hit was slightly numb from the effect. My back tremored, shoving my chest off the bed and a scream was muffled through the gag still covering my mouth. When the bit of electricity left my body I felt my chest heaving trying to get all the lost air back into my lungs from the scream. I looked at my stomach and saw a spot of raised pink flesh form where the instrument hit me.

“Oh this is definitely going to be fun…” Rick stated, a bit of spittle running down his chin. It was hard to tell if he was sane at the moment.

With a flick of his wrist, Rick slapped the rod against my skin again and no matter how much I was prepared for the shock, my body still jumped at the contact. Another scream left my lungs gasping for air. Rick didn’t give me time to catch my breath this time as his slapped another part of my torso bringing another spot of raised flesh to the surface. I could hear the maniacal laugh above me rising above my screams. A distant part of my brain was wondering if the room was sound proof since no one could hear Rick’s laugh and my screams, well, my muffled screams.

My arms pulled at the restraints at my wrists as my legs did the same for the ones at my ankles. There was a satisfying snapping in the hard maple bed posts. Rick must have heard the same thing because he stopped playing with the black instrument and slapped my face a couple times, hard. A dizzy spell wracked my brain as I moaned into the black cloth. There was a mumbling sound coming from Rick who was talking to himself as he rifled through his tools.

He exclaimed loudly, “Ah! There you are my beauty…”

Rick turned his attention back towards me with his next tool of choice. A sharp sleek metal reflected the bouncing flames from the candles. The curve to the knife meant it was a skinning knife usually used in hunting or descaling a fish. My eyes widened at the choice this bastard made and when he brought it close to my chest I shied away from it, trying desperately to break just one of the posts on the bed. If I could get one of my limbs free it would be all I needed to get rid of this Coyotl and make my escape.

“Shh, Shh, Shh. Don’t be afraid…” Rick cooed at me as he turned the blade slightly on edge at an angle and I felt the knife cut through the top layer of my skin, just deep enough to draw blood.

A stream of curses flowed through my mouth only to be muffled by my cloth gag and once again I was twitching at the sharp pain and now oozing blood on my chest. With just the one cut, Rick had looked heavenward and sighed in relief. He was really getting off on this shit and now I was his target. His crazed eyes locked on mine and I held his gaze as I felt a new slash across my left shoulder. Another muted scream and a string of profanities left my mouth. I forced my eyes shut so I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing my fear, at least he wouldn’t rob me of that.

“Open your eyes!” He screamed at me and I could smell his rancid breath inches away from my face.

I shook my head so hard I felt my torso turn with the action. Rick would not rob me of my will! In the next few seconds, the bastard sliced a few more cuts along my side and now my right arm causing me to hiss and buck. Rick was screaming angrily now, he wanted me to open my eyes and he even threatened to cut my eyelids off if I didn’t comply. Distantly, I wondered how long it had been since I first arrived here, how long it would take Sean to come looking for me, and if by some miracle, Mitch would show up and get Rick the hell away from me. Hell, I’d even take the silently brooding Goth boy if someone would get this lunatic away from me.

Another two cuts joined the array of wounds afflicted on my body and now I was starting to feel light headed and cold. _Shock from blood loss_ , my analytical part of my brain surmised. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing given my current situation. I finally opened my eyes and noticed my vision was blurry with a grey outline that was slowly seeping into full view. Rick’s hand was bloody, there were even splatters on his face, he looked down at me and smiled that crazed smile and he was probably about to say something grateful to me for finally opening my eyes.

His mouth was open and I saw his lips move slightly, but that was all my consciousness could take as the grey turned to black. The last thing I heard him scream was an ear piercing, “NO!!”

~~~

 _They're late_ … I thought to myself as I watched the clock move past the three hour check in time I gave Nick’s detail. I was half kidding when I told them to check in every three hours since I thought they would have updated me with some type of information before the three hours were up. _Something’s wrong_ , the Zauberbiest part of me supplied, which wasn’t very helpful in that exact moment. It wasn’t like that part of me was wrong, something had to have happened if the guards didn’t check in yet. I placed my hand over the phone receiver on my desk and hesitated for a moment. Should I call them, Rosalee, Juliette, or even Monroe?

“This is ridiculous,” I said out loud as I dialed one of the Hundjäger’s phones. When there was no answer, my stomach plummeted.

I called Rosalee next and she finally answered on the third ring with a suspicious, “Hello?”

“There’s no time to explain, what information did you give Nick?” I asked sternly into the receiver.

“Who is this?” Rosalee asked perplexed.

“Damnit Rosalee! This is your Regnant! Tell me what the hell you told Nick!” my anger made my voice go deeper and I could tell that the Fuchsbau on the other end was scared from her heavy breathing.

“A-An a-apartment…” the woman stuttered.

“Address! Give me an Address!” I continued screaming. She rushed through the address and made a ton of apologies before I hung up on her. There was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and that helped me rush to my car and peel out of the parking garage. Nick was in trouble and I needed to rescue him. A rational part of my brain, mainly the police Captain part of me, wanted me to bring back up. However, both the Zauberbiest and Regnant part of me wanted to rip whoever was causing these ill feelings to shreds, and best not to have a dozen cops as witnesses for when that time comes.

It literally took almost two hours to get to the building and as I pulled up I saw Nick’s car and my guard’s car parked a block away to stop them from being noticed so they could approach stealthily. I was so past being stealthy at this point. Every nerve in my body was screaming for action, screaming to see if Nick was okay. I rammed the car through the chain link fence surrounding the building before placing it in park and walking up to the front door of the abandoned building. I actually considered knocking, until I smelled the blood. The Rengant part of me exploded out, forcing a rage filled woge right at the door step. My shirt was shredded as my shoulders broadened a little and my muscles expanded. Familiar bronzed scales reflected some of the strained street light coming from a decrepit street light about twenty feet away.

Not able to contain myself any longer, I kicked in the boarded up door, making the wooden barricade shoot inward. I looked around the area and didn’t see anything that should warrant concern until I saw a river of blood trickling down wooden steps in front of me. My feet took me to and up the stairs faster than I anticipated. When I reached the second floor I found the reason my guards didn’t answer the phone. They were all dead, to their credit, so were about eight or nine other people. _At least they killed double their number_ , my Zauberbiest voice said in the back of my mind. My eyes covered each one of the bodies and none of them resembled Nick, _my_ Grimm.

Noises from upstairs took my attention away from the death before me. Three, no, four sets of feet were running somewhere above me and what was worse was the fact that one sounded like it was dragging something. _Nick_ … I thought grimly as I ascended the stairs. They were close, I could smell them… When I rounded the fifth floor of stairs I saw the tail end of a person running towards the sixth. I jumped at the chance and sped up, grabbing the ankle of the person and crushing it easily. I was rewarded with a scream and a weak punch thrown in my direction. It seemed like slow motion as I grabbed that hand and crushed it as easily as I did the ankle.

The boy was screaming and I didn’t have time for it. I covered his mouth and said with a deadly tone of voice, “Where is _my_ Grimm?!”

Light grey eyes, almost a mirror to my own looked up at me. The boy’s face was paling as he used his good hand to point upward. I bowed my head and dropped the kid to the floor. If he was still alive when I rescued Nick then I’d send for an ambulance. But at the moment my top concern was making sure Nick was okay. When I reached the seventh floor there was no more noise; no running, climbing, or even uneven breaths. Nick’s captors must have decided they weren't going to be able to run from me after all. I smiling and shut my eyes, trying to rely on my sense of smell alone.

With my eyes closed, I walked through the floor and found one of the remaining assailants. The person was hiding behind a wall next to a closed door. I laughed and punched a hole through the wall, grabbing the wesen and pulled him back through. This one was just as young as the grey eyed boy from earlier but this one seemed off. It was like there was a hint of crazy hiding behind those dark green eyes and it wasn’t something I wanted in my territory. The boy snarled and woged into a Coyotl, which was impressive with me being in my Regnant form. That or he was just plain stupid. He tried to slash at me with clawed fingers but the action didn’t go far after I snapped his neck.

After the boy fell lifeless onto the floor I heard fighting going on the next floor up so I made my way to the eighth floor. This one was different from the other floors. All the walls were knocked down except for support beams, leaving the area a large expanse of carpet, wood, and crumbled drywall. There was a Coyotl and a Mauvais Dentes fighting each other while Nick was propped up on one of the support beams behind the Mauvais Dentes. I didn’t know what was going on at the moment, the shock of it made me lose my Regnant form.

“How dare you!” the larger wesen stated to the Coyotl.

He replied angrily, “You were sleeping Mitch! I wanted to have some fun!”

The Mauvais Dentes, who was apparently called Mitch replied, “You had no right Rick! He belong’s to Sean Renard! The Bastard Prince! Portland’s Regnant!”

“Do you think I care?! I was going to kill him as soon as we got our land from him anyways!” Rick, the Coyotl spat back at Mitch.

“ _You what?!_ ” I yelled from my spot near the steps. My voiced echoed in the emptied floor.

“Reanard!” Mitch said with a surprised tone in his voice.

Unfortunately, that second cost him as Rick stepped forward and plunged a wicked looking knife into the man’s side. He stepped back and boasted, “Ha! You fool! Never turn your back on an enemy in a fight!”

I looked over at where Nick was sitting and realized that he wasn’t moving. What I gathered from the fight was that Rick was the one responsible for that and Mitch was trying to-what? Protect Nick? I had no idea but when Rick turned towards me, I saw blood covering the man, more blood than what could have gotten on him from the knife hit Mitch just took. I looked back over Nick and saw that there were bloody gashes over Nick’s body, some were tended to with ripped up shirt pieces and further speculation on Mitch’s part said that the shirt pieces were from him. So the Mauvais Dentes tried to help Nick… That fact meant that if the knife wound wasn’t fatal I would have to try and save him as well.

“Let’s get this over with Regnant! I have plenty more to do to that Grimm!” Rick said in a mocking tone.

I watched Mitch crawl towards Nick and tried waking him up but in the time that I took watching them; Rick was already on me, trying to slash across my throat. Dodging the attack was easy and as I danced around the Coyotl, he started to get mad; his eyes were darkening in fury. I jabbed and wove in and out of his attack range, slowly pushing him away from where Nick and Mitch were at. Rick growled and spat curse words at me, trying to goad me into dropping my defenses. It didn’t work as I tripped him with a back leg sweep. He stumbled trying to get up and attacked viciously towards my legs on his way up. I jumped backwards but left my side open and when he went for my ribs, I blocked with my arm, letting him get a slice across my bicep.

“Haha! Would ya look at that! The Bastard Prince bleeds like the rest of us mere mortals!” Rick stated with a wicked smile.

I smiled back at him and said mockingly, “You shouldn’t worry about me…”

Rick tried to turn around, his face showing confusion. He was too late however as I saw Nick jump up and slam some type of rod into the left eye of the Coyotl. The wesen screamed loudly before his body started convulsing and before long he slumped to the ground, unmoving. Nick dropped to the floor and started to scoot away from the lifeless Coyotl, until he ran into Mitch who was paling at a very fast pace.

I ran over to Nick and took a quick assessment of his injuries, afraid to touch them if they were severe. He batted me away and turned his attention toward Mitch. I heard myself say, “Nick! What are you doing? This man kidnapped you!”

Nick looked back at me and said in a hushed tone, “No, he _saved_ me.”

Confused, I looked back and forth between my Grimm and the Mauvais Dentes and asked, “What do you need me to do?”

“We need to get him to a hospital. I’ll explain everything afterward.” Nick stated as he motioned to pick Mitch up with an arm that wasn’t as bandaged as the other.

“You can’t be serious Nick…” I pleaded as he tried to limp towards the stairwell. Mitch was barely able to hang onto the wounded detective.

“Either help… or shut up!” Nick heaved as he continued his arduous pace.

I brushed my hand through my hair and thought about what I should do. _It’s obvious_ … the Regnant part of me stated in the back of my mind. I walked up to the two wounded men and grabbed Mitch’s other arm. It seemed easier for me since the man was my height and I was able to take the full burden of his weight. Nick gasped and started breathing heavily all the while trying to keep up with me. By the time we got to the second floor, I nearly screamed in frustration.

“What is it…Sean?” Nick asked between breaths.

“I-I forgot…” I started to say, feeling a red flush creep up my face. I finished saying, “I could’ve called an ambulance…”

“Y-You… _what_?” Nick asked as he hurried up next to me and hit me on my back. “Mitch might die!”

A guilty part of my subconscious, which sounded like my Zauberbiest, didn’t think it was that bad of an idea but I knew better as I apologized, “I was careless, I’m sorry. Here, you take it while I carry Mitch down the rest of the way. Hopefully by the time we reach the outside the ambulance will be there.”

Nick nodded and started to dial. It seemed like his strength was returning, at least a little. He wasn’t like every other wesen where they would only be out of it for a few hours. Although I really didn’t know the extent of his wounds either. I just needed to bide my time till Nick was willing to tell me what happened. When we finally got through the front door I kicked in, which Nick said something about, the ambulance was waiting with the EMTs running towards us.

A female medic grabbed Mitch and hurried him to a collapsible gurney while a male EMT went to Nick. I had to suppress a growl that was trying to escape my throat as the guy was getting handsy with Nick. Both men were being ushered into the back of the ambulance and I was left staring after them. I ran back to my SUV and screeched out after the emergency vehicle and was only minutes behind them ushering the two men into the emergency entrance. Before leaving the vehicle, I realized I was bare chested from when I woged into my Regnant form. I looked in the back seat and found my long black rain coat and pulled that on, wouldn’t do any good walking around a hospital half naked.

I walked up to the receptionist and said, “Captain Sean Renard, here to see Detective Burkhardt.”

She looked at me with tired eyes, her phone was ringing off the hook and there were at least seventeen other people trying for her attention. Her glasses slid down her nose and she pushed them back up with her middle finger before she began typing at the screen in front of her. After a couple minutes that felt like an eternity, she wrote down his room number and which floor he was on and handed it to me. It might have been because I was wearing my long black trench coat I kept in my vehicle and my badge that was fastened to the outside pocket, who knows?

I rode up in the elevator and made my way to Nick’s room. As I reached the viewing glass, I noticed one of the nurses was removing the cloth make-shift bandages revealing the horrors of Nick’s night. My own breath was caught in my lungs as I saw thin cuts along his arms and torso and amongst them were raised pink bumps scattered like measles across his chest and stomach. All I knew what that Nick was still breathing… still alive… still _right in front of me_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait! Real Life's been a rollercoaster! Please comment if you liked this chapter and the first person point of view or if yu think i was better at third person ^.~


	9. Tattoos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick is still adjusting to what had happened to him with the Coyotl. Sean has another snake charm induced attack and Mitch happens to witness it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in chapter posting! RL has been extremely busy. I wasn't intending to keep the original character around but my imagination ran away from me... I appriciate all comments, kudos, and bookmarks! Hope everyone enjoys.

It was a week after the incident involving Nick and the gang of Coyotl, led by the Mauvais Dentes, Mitch. I sighed at the report sitting in front of me; there wasn’t any way to tie Mitch to the murders at the warehouse. It was selfish of me, wanting to get rid of the person who helped Nick when I wasn’t able to do so. _Think someone may be jealous_ , the voice in the back of my mind reminded me. I needed to distract myself as my hands started to type away at my keyboard. When I started paying attention to what my hands were actually doing, I noticed I had typed an e-mail to my mother…

“The snake charm…” I said silently, wondering if Nick had a chance to talk with Rosalee or not.

As soon as the thought rolled over in my mind I cringed. Nick was still recovering from being held captive. I witnessed him changing from his police athletic uniform, slower than normal. He didn’t finish until everyone was out of the locker room and it made me feel worse than normal. There had to be another way to figure out what was going on with me. Forget the e-mails, I would have to get a hold of my mother through the one use phone I had for emergencies…

A knock sounded at my door, rousing me from my thoughts. I looked up from my computer screen to see Nick standing there with a haunted look on his face. Closing my laptop, I cleared my throat and said, “Come in.”

Nick opened the door and walked in with his head bowed, his eyes darting towards the windows, and even his hands were fidgeting against each other. It was all…disconcerting and made me feel like I wanted to find a way to go back and time to prevent the kidnapping from ever happening. He didn’t even go to his usual spot in my office to lean against the bookcase; instead he stood near the door in case he needed to make a speedy exit.

I sighed and brought my hands up in front of my mouth like I was contemplating something and when Nick didn’t say anything I spoke up, “What can I do for you Detective Burkhardt.”

Nick’s attention was brought back up towards my face, and I say that because he wasn’t looking at my eyes. It seemed like he was looking at the window behind me. His lip quivered and when he opened his mouth nothing came out. He closed his mouth and shook his head. There was something weighing heavily on his mind and I didn’t want to pressure him. Nick looked back up and this time he met my gaze.

“How…” He started again and stopped. Nick brought his fisted hand up to his mouth and shook his head again.

“How what, Nick?” I asked, prompting the Detective.

He looked at me again, this time his eyes were on fire. When he spoke this time it seemed like he was screaming as he stated, “How long did you know Juliette was turned into a Hexenbiest?!”

I could feel the blood in my face drain at his accusation. He knew that I was the one who Juliette turned to when her…problem surfaced. There wasn’t an outcome where I could get Nick on my side. The Grimm felt betrayed because I didn’t tell him Juliette’s secret. Would he believe me if I re-explained that it wasn’t my information to divulge? I quirked my eyebrow and waited for Nick to say more but he stood there, his chest heaving.

I coughed into my hand as a stall and said, “It wasn’t my secret to tell, Ni-”

“Stop! Just-” Nick threw up his hands and motioned towards the door.

I had a choice in that split moment, go after Nick and try to beat logic into him or let him walk out of my office and come to terms on his own. We were in the middle of the precinct and it wouldn’t do well for me to break my composure- _To hell with that!_ Both voices in my head rallied at the thought. My body moved quickly and as Nick grasped the handle on my office door my hand was on his wrist. There was a moment where I felt like time stopped forcing a shiver up my arm.

Nick turned darkened blue/green eyes full of anger at my hand and then traced along my arm to my face. The gaze bore holes into my own and my words were broken as I stuttered, “N-Nick, please hear me out…”

“For the love- Fine! Whatever. We’ll talk after work. Right now I have a B&E that requires my presence.” Nick stated, with the anger dissipating as fast as it had come.

“We _will_ talk afterwards. Go to this address. Time is not a factor.” I said dead pan while handing him a post-it with the address of a restaurant downtown. Nick looked at it and to my surprise, he didn’t crumple it and throw it at my face. The Grimm certainly had every right to do so after I skirted the truth for several weeks. In all honesty, I wondered why he was so affected by Juliette becoming a Hexenbiest. _He still cares for her…_ the Zauberbiest voice whispered in the back of my mind. It was a little bit of jealousy rearing its ugly head trying to sway the rest of my thoughts into something just as ugly.

Nick looked at my face a little distantly, like he was going to say something but he just turned his face and said towards the door in a strained voice, “Okay.”

There wasn’t much else I could say or do, so I let his wrist go and watched him walk out my office door. I looked at the other people scurrying about the office like little bees working towards finding the culprit of the B&E. A beep sounded from my computer detailing a new e-mail had arrived. Sighing to myself, I turned away from the hive workers and went back to my throne wondering who could be trying to get in contact with me now.

When I brought up the internet browser, I expected to see the e-mail that I was going to send to my mother. Instead, a sent box was in the middle of the screen. _You weren’t going to send it, so I did_ , the Zauberbiest chuckled in the back of my mind. Strangely enough, I haven’t felt or heard from my Regnant form since the last forced woge I did at the apartment complex. A forced hibernation could have en brought on by the side effects of the snake charm. There was not enough information to make and definitive decision.

I couldn’t think on the dormant part of myself right now. Apparently I managed to send an e-mail without me knowing it. A psychiatrists dream I may be, but I needed to know if my mother was the one who actually replied. I exited the sent screen and looked at the new unopened mail icon in my inbox and I hesitated before opening the link. There was no subject or sender’s identification which meant it was indeed from my mother. I opened it, wondering if its contents were actually able to help me.

“What?” I asked to the computer screen. There wasn’t a message in the e-mail just a name. And honestly, I wasn’t surprised. If I sent Juliette to her and Adalind probably went to her after I told her about it. It was only natural that Henrietta would know about the snake charms effects. I said to my empty office, “I should’ve gone to her myself…”

~~~

“What’s going on with you man?” Hank asked me from the driver’s seat.

“Nothing.” I heard myself say automatically.

“You’ve been staring at the dashboard with so much heat, I’m surprised it hasn’t burst into flames! I’ve been your partner for years, I know when something is bothering you. I hate to break it to you, but your poker face sucks.” Hank replied to my auto answer. He even tried to make a joke to lighten the thoughts buzzing around my skull.

“You know the issues I’ve been having with Juliette?” I asked tentatively, decideding not to tell him about the nightmare and sleepless nights due to my kidnapping.

Hank looked at me for just a split second before turning his eyes back onto the road then he replied, “You know I know, partner.”

Was I really about to tell Hank the news that I just recently found out myself? There really wasn’t a point in keeping it to myself now that I confronted Sean about it and Hank was bound to find out eventually anyways. So I took a deep breath and on the exhale I said, “Juliette was turned into a Hexenbiest as a side effect form me getting my Grimm abilities back. She went to Sean Renard about this fact and didn’t tell me until several weeks later.”

Hank pulled the car up to the crime scene and just looked at me for a couple minutes, probably collecting his thoughts. He finally asked, “How are you?”

“What do you mean how am I? I know Juliette and I had a falling out a long while ago, but she doesn’t deserve to be forced into the Wesen world. She’s human!” I snapped at Hank who had put his hands up in mock surrender.

“T-That’s not what I was asking Nick. It’s only been what, a week since you were held hostage? You still won’t change in front of anyone, you seem more timid when you aren’t angry, not to mention you are quick to anger. What happened to that person who was with you in the hospital? He had knife wounds from that apartment just like you didn’t he?” Hank asked defensively.

I looked at Hank a little dumbfounded, he was right. I have been quick to anger after I was held hostage by the Coyotl. After that night I felt weak and useless. Sean kept telling me how I killed five or six enemies and that I should be impressed. He even made noises about how I was so stubborn in the end, regardless of how exhausted I seemed at the time. I forced Sean to take Mitch with us to the ambulance even though he was the so-called leader of the Coyotl. The Mauvais Dentes just seemed lost and lonely with no place to call his own. I remembered him mentioning trying to get territory from the Prince, Sean Renard.

“Nick?” Hank asked from outside my door.

Apparently I had spaced out after he asked me about Mitch. Honestly, I haven’t heard from him since the hospital. I was discharged after I was bandaged up but he was kept longer since his wounds weren’t superficial like mine were. Since then I went back to the house I shared with Juliette only to find out she was a Hexenbiest. Suddenly I felt bad for not checking up on Mitch in the hospital. He was the one that came in and interrupted what Rick was in the middle of doing to me. I don’t actually remember what happened since I came to in Mitch’s arms, him carrying me up steps and Rick yelling behind us.

“I’m sorry Hank, can you handle this B&E without me? There’s something that I have to do.” I asked sincerely.

Hank quirked a little smile and nodded his head. I smiled myself, finding the motion a little alien since I haven’t done it in so long. I continued to smile as I got out of the passenger seat and walked around the vehicle. I opened the door and said, “You can get a ride with Wu then! I’ll see you back at the station. You should be done with this by then, hm?”

“Trying to insult me partner? I got this. Go have yourself a personal day, Lord knows you deserve one.” Hank replied, waving his hand in farewell before he turned towards the house that was broken in to.

While I drove towards the hospital I started to think about the confrontation between Sean and me. My attitude was deplorable towards him and I understand why. I needed someone to yell at and I focused my rage at him since there was something he hid from me. When I got back to the station I would need to apologize to him full heartedly. Right now though, I needed to see how Mitch was doing. I pulled into the Hospital parking lot wondering what I was going to say to the man whom I barely knew but there had to be something he wanted or needed that I could help with. He did after all save me from being permenantly disfigured, well, besides the myriad of shallow knife wounds around my body.

I made my way to the front desk and tapped my finger on the desk waiting for the nurse to get off the phone. I tried asking, “Excuse me?”

The nurse popped the gum in her mouth and gave be a sarcastic look before going back to her computer and talking to someone over the phone. From the gist of it, the conversation was going about beauty tips. I sighed, taking the higher route and waited for her to finish her conversation. The phone chat moved on from beauty tips to their love life, all the while there were screaming kids and arguing parents behind me. This wasn’t going anywhere fast and my patience was wearing thin just as quickly as earlier with Sean.

When the conversation moved over to food, I’d had it. I reached over the desk and hung up the phone. The nurse gave me a sour look and was about to say something terrible, however I pulled my badge off of my belt and shoved it in her face while saying, “Detective Burkhardt, Portland P.D. I suggest you put your personal conversation on hold and do your job Ma’am. There are plenty of patients needing care. I need the floor and room number of Mitch-”

I stopped my berating tone and wondered for a moment. Did Mitch ever tell me his last name? I could have sworn he said something in the ambulance while the EMTs were doing rush care on the way over to the ER. Was it Smith? No some other common name…Johnson? Close, but no… Ah! Jonnathen! It was mentioned only once while in the ambulance while paperwork was being filled out.

I looked back at the nurse and was actually surprised to see her attentive, the phone forgotten, and her fingers poised to type in the last name I was about to give her, “Mitch Jonnathen.”

With a few taps of the keys, the nurse pulled up his information and stated, “Mr. Jonnathen is on the 3rd floor, room 304. Take the elevators down the hall on your left. Follow the signs on that floor Detective.”

“Thank you-” I said, looking at her name tag and had to stifle a laugh as I said her name, “-Deloris. Please help these patients now.”

I looked back, as I made my way to the elevator and once again, was surprised to see Deloris actually having people line up to get their information and passing out paperwork. Being an ass helps sometimes I guess. Once on the third floor, the directions that were given to me were not accurate enough. I ended up walking around for a good thirty minutes before I found his room. Why did all hospitals seem to be built like mazes? It didn’t matter, I thought as I knocked on, and then opened the door to Mitch’s hospital room.

“Hello?” I asked into open space, hoping to see Mitch asleep or something. I was totally caught off guard by Mitch near the window in nothing but boxers.

A red flush crept up Mitch’s pale skin as he turned around to look at me, an embarrassed smirk stretched his lips before he said, “Y-You caught me…”

“I’d say with your pants down but… you’re not wearing any.” I tried to look him in those ice blue eyes that have been in my dreams for the past couple of nights but it was hard not to stare at the short little hairs dusting the man’s extremely sculpted chest.

“Oh Nick, that look you’re giving me isn’t going to end well for either of us…” Mitch explained, stepping away from the locked windows. Although, if the Mauvais Dentes really wanted out all he had to do was break the window with his fist.

I turned my gaze away from where Mitch was standing and managed to find some dropped off clothing. I made my way over to the stashed clothes and tossed them towards Mitch and said, “Put these on will you? It’s hard for me to concentrate.”

“You know who dropped these off?” Mitch asked.

I took a gamble and turned towards the other man. He was having an issue with the jeans that were supplied for him. They seemed to be boot cut and styled with a multi button like zipper. Mitch’s fingers seemed to fumble with the buttons and it was actually kind of funny. With a smirk on my face I walked over to him and slapped his fingers away and easily fastened the pants for him. I looked up into his face and wondered not for the first time what led this wesen down the path he was on?

Mitch’s right hand stroked the side of my cheek as he whispered, “Nick…”

There was a heat in Mitch’s eyes that likely matched my own but I needed information. I couldn’t let my suffering libido take the reins on my sanity. Stepping back from Mitch and taking a deep breath I said, “I’m sorry. I only meant to come over and see how you were doing…”

The gleam in the Mauvais Dentes’ eyes dimmed a fraction while he pulled on a V-neck white tee that was part of the bundle. The fabric left nothing to the imagination of the muscles that lay beneath the stretched tight cloth. Mitch had his mouth in a grim line as he stated, “I have no home to call my own, nor allies. I have no work and little in skills for the Kehrseite world.”

I swallowed painfully, like a lump was trying to remove itself from my throat. It was probably going to be a very bad idea but I owed his man my life. Stiffening my back, I said, “Well, I don’t have a job for you. But I have a guest room available in the house I’m staying in. You are welcome to it, until you can make a living for yourself.”

Mith’s eyes lit up at the invitation, but it was soon masked as he replied, “Just until I find a job then.”

The man extended his arm for a handshake and I accepted it, wondering what I had gotten myself into.

~~~

The email told me to go to Henrietta, and here I was standing outside her house. A nagging feeling was playing in the back of my mind, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I haven’t been to the ancient Hexenbiest’s abode in a very long time, since I was a kid actually. Curiosity was getting the better of me as I forced my feet to propel me forward. This woman could have the knowledge I have been searching for regarding the snake charm and the new weakness I had with the reoccurring nightmares and blood soaked, unopened wounds.

I raised my hand to knock and the door just flew open, Henrietta was standing there with a wide spread grin on her face as she stated, “Well, if it isn’t the Bastard Prince himself… come on in.”

“Thank you for seeing me Henri-” I started to thank the woman before she put her hand up to quiet me.

“There are too many paths before you now. We have much to discuss to find out which path you decide to take.” The Hexenbiest stated before turning back around and heading to her kitchen.

“Henrietta, I actually came to ask you about-”

“The snake charm? Your nightmares? The dream? …The Grimm?” She supplied while cutting me off again.

I didn’t even think about asking her about the dream involving a future Nick, Mark, and myself. I had been preoccupied with other people’s problems and the fact that I was reliving my death every night. I followed her into the kitchen and said, “I don’t understand how-”

“The Grimm might help with the nightmares or the fact that you can’t stop the bleeding from healed wounds?” Henrietta finished my sentence again.

“Will you stop that?” I asked with a bit of anger coloring my words.

She looked up from a book on the counter and smiled wickedly as she said, “And what? Let you finish your sentences so we would be stuck here all night skirting the truth behind everything?”

“What do you mean?” I asked bewildered.

She sighed, arched an eyebrow in my direction and stated, “Truth is Mr. Prince, you died. You should not be alive. That snake charm your mother used was just a temporary solution. You need to mark your Grimm in order for the effects of the charm to stop. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t claimed him yet.”

My mouth was hanging open as I tried to grasp what this woman was telling me. When I couldn’t put words to my thoughts I asked, “What do you mean, _Marking_. _Claiming_.?”

“You mean to tell me you don’t know about the ritual a Grimm and Regnant go through to unlock abilities in both parties? And you call yourself a Royal!” Henrietta scoffed and she busied herself looking in her pantry for something.

“A ritual? Wait how do you know so much about Royals?” I asked, suspicious.

She skirted the answer by asking, “That dream you had a while ago, the prophetic one. What was different about that reality and this one?”

“A Royal Family was wiped out.” I said automatically since that was the most alarming thought in my opinion. I was still working on the mechanics of wiping out a Family.

“Are you really this dense? I feel bad for Nick.” She spat and tossed some books out of the pantry, the materials landing haphazardly around the kitchen.

What were the words that Henrietta used earlier? She had said, marked and claimed. Then it hit me. I whispered, “The tattoos.”

“Ding, ding, ding! Give the Regnant a prize!” Henrietta exclaimed loudly as she sauntered back over to the kitchen island and placed a very old and thick tome on the tiles.

I approached cautiously, as she pointed towards the book which was written in Romanian. When she didn’t open it, I looked at her quizzically, lifting an eyebrow of my own. Henrietta sighed and said, “I can’t open it. Only a Royal can. Place your hand over the book and concentrate on your Regnant Heritage.”

I did as the Hexenbiest ordered and tried to reconnect with that part of me that I hadn’t heard from the past week. There was a woosh of air as the cover flipped over and pages started flying past. The first thing that popped in my mind was claiming and then the book stopped turning pages. On the page there were images of different male and female bodies, all of which bore tattoos of varying sizes and marks. In the description the text read that the markings were the epitome of Grimm and Regnant alliance. It was more or less a bond formed by blood and ink that linked the Regnant to the Grimm.

“Which one did you see?” Henrietta’s voice sounded in my ear, forcing me to jump a little.

I looked at the pages and didn’t see the exact markings that Burkhardt and Meisner possessed in my dream which was strange. I said to Henrietta, “None of these. Are there other books?”

“Try remembering the tattooing from your dream and place your hand over the book.” Henrietta replied to my question.

I did as she instructed again, thinking back to the intricate tribal tattooing on Nicks torso and this time the pages moved faster. Something was wrong though. After several moments when the pages didn’t stop turning, my sight started to blurr. A migraine was forming and when I placed my other hand on my chest, it came away with blood from the healed gunshot wounds. It seemed like my weakness was triggered by use of my wesen abilities both Zauberbiest and Regnant, and when I was on the verge of passing out, the pages stopped moving.

“I see, looks like you need more than just one person to cure you of the snake charms after effects.” Henrietta said as I fought to stand on my feet.

“Nick wasn’t the only one tattooed. Mark Meisner was as well. So I need to bind two people to myself?” I asked and I couldn’t help but smile at the way my dream was finally coming true.

There was a quizzical look on Henrietta’s face as she looked at the book and finally she sighed. She grabbed the book, not moving the page, and also my hand and guided me to a circular table with a- “A Crystal Ball? You serious?” I ask incredulously.

“Don’t knock the old school; if enough power is used to imbue one of these, there one of the most powerful magical artifacts out there.” Henrietta explained as she sat down, placing the book on the opposite side of the table, clearly expecting me to sit there.

I stifled a laugh, but couldn’t hide my smirk as I took the seat and waited for her to do the fortune telling act. The lights didn’t dim, the ball didn’t glow, and there was no earth shattering insight as the woman stared blankly at the ball of glass. After a few minutes of sitting there, I was starting to get bored until she grasped my hand and inhaled deeply, holding her breath. The woman’s skin tone lightened like she was anorexic and her face sunk in to reveal her Hexenbiest’s visage.

“Three…” Henrietta said in a whisper.

“Three what? Three tattoos, three families, three people, or three times to get the claiming right?” I asked suddenly.

“The Grimm, The Childhood Friend, and The Guard.” Henrietta gasped into the air.

“What do you mean?! Nick Burkhardt, Mark Meisner, and who?” I struggled to stay in my chair and not shoot up in disbelief.

“The Grimm, The Childhood Friend, and The Guard.” The woman repeated.

“Who is this third person?! Why weren’t they in my dream?!” I questioned the Hexenbiest who was still in a trance, until I took my hand out of hers which made her collapse onto the table.

“Henrietta?” I asked cautiously.

“Take the book…” she said, gasping for ar. She lifted her head and added, “I can’t use it anyway, it was made for Regnants.”

“Henrietta, do you know what you meant by three people, the third one being The Guard?” I asked tentatively.

“I can only show you one path you can take, although this one seems like your best chance at survival. It’s up to you to figure out the prophecy.” She said as she got up onto her feet a little shakily.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked again, wishing for more information.

She sighed and said, “It means, I need a drink and you need to leave.”

“But-” I started to say until I realized I was outside her house, looking at a closed door the Regnant book in my hand.

At that moment my cellphone rang out. I answered as I walked back to my SUV, “Captain Renard.”

Sgt. Wu’s voice rang through the receiver, “Captain, 12-49A downtown Sir. I called Burkhardt. Hank is still at the B&E, apparently it wasn’t the ex-fiancé with a record, surprising I know…”

“Wu, address.” I sighed into the receiver. The man wanted to know why he hasn’t made detective yet; he always lets his mouth run away from his thoughts.

“Right Captain…” Wu stated solemnly as he recited the address.

“I’ll be there.” I stated into the phone before hanging up. It had been a while since I was last on a crime scene, save the one Nick and I created at the apartment complex. Maybe Nick would be in higher spirits after not seeing me for the whole day; his temper might have eased a little, allowing me to explain myself properly to the Grimm. With this latest betrayal of his trust, I feared that I was losing him yet again. There had to be something that I could do to gain favor with him again. It was like an endless game of tug-of-war, the relationship between Nick and me.

As I headed towards the crime scene, I thought of different scenarios that I could possibly present myself to him and none of them gained me any ground. Eventually, my thoughts returned to the vision Henrietta had as my eyes kept darting to the passanger seat which held the Regnant volume. I needed to get Meisner back to me as well. There were openings in my ranks now and I needed to tell him of my dream and the fall of a Royal Family, caused by me and mine. I needed to count on him as being mine so I could bring Nick on board too. There was too much stuff going on right now for me to even concern myself with a possible homicide, but I needed to see Nick after the way we left things earlier in the day and I couldn't just do nothing until our meeting tonight.

~~~

“Where are we going?” Mitch asked as I circled away from the way to the house.

I sighed after hanging up the phone on Sgt. Wu. It really wasn’t good for Mitch to accompany me to a crime scene, but the man didn’t have a car and I wasn’t going to just kick him out of mine after I offered him a place to stay. I looked at him briefly and replied, “I got a call from the precinct. Possible Homicide.”

“Annnd, I’m going with you?” Mitch replied to my answer with the question.

“If you stay in the car, yes. I’m sorry, this shouldn’t take long since the vic was unhappily married. Chances are good that it was a scorned lover or wife.” I said, turning on the police lights hooked into the dashboard of my car.

“Could be both of them.” The Mauvais Dentes supplied, his face looking out the window.

“That’s an interesting theory.” I stated as we pulled up to the crime scene. I got out of the car, and Mitch followed. I halted him by saying, “Hey, hey, you stay here. You aren’t a ride-a-long.”

Mitch crossed his arms over his chest and pouted a little, which he shouldn’t be able to do with his masculine features. He reluctantly leaned back against my car and stated, “Fine, I’ll be here until you finish.”

I smiled towards the man and went towards the house. I looked back and noticed that a few civilian spectators approach him and he just ignored them, staring at me with a playful smile marking his face. _Yummy_ , the voice in the back of my mind stated as my eyes rakes across the tight shirt Mitch was wearing. Shaking my head, I turned back around and continued inside where I ran into Sgt. Wu who was now walking towards me, away from two women.

“Burkhardt! Finally, where have you been? These ladies are driving me bat-shit crazy.” Wu stated as he pointed two uniforms to look after them.

I smiled at the officer, “What you have for me Wu?”

“Vic is upstairs, the room looks like a warzone. Current wife and mistress are down here in the living room acting like the best of friends. No blood on either of the women, no murder weapon present.” Wu stated off his little note pad before putting it away in the pocket of his PD wind breaker.

“Check their financials? Maybe a payout for a hit or boyfriend of the mistress?” I asked the Sgt.

“Got it, you gonna look at the room upstairs?” he asked and I just nodded, making my way to the stairs.

Wu wasn’t kidding when he said the room looked like a warzone. Broken furniture, glass and sculpture pieces scattered everywhere, and the victim was bloodied and bruised. I slipped some latex gloves on with practiced ease as I made my way around the room. As I circled around the body, I noticed that the clothes were altered from after he had fallen onto the floor. Slowly, I kneeled down next to the body and checked his pockets, not finding a phone, watch, wallet, or anything.

“What happened here?” Sean’s voice rang out from behind me.

I jumped up to my feet and turned towards my Captain and said, “Wow, Sea- err, Captain! Didn’t hear you come up…”

Sean looked at me for a moment, quirking his eyebrow in thought before he replied, “So, the crime scene?”

“Right. The women are possibly innocent, unless they knew the attacker who killed this guy before robbing him. No wallet or jewelry. One of the women downstairs was the Vic’s wife, the other his girlfriend.” I explained the crime scene to him all the while wondering what actually brought him out to the crime scene in the first place.

I knew I had confronted him wrongly at the precinct. There were other reasons why he had to keep Juliette hidden, but I just felt so hurt at the fact that he HAD to keep something from me. I thought that Sean might have had a little more faith in me. Juliette turning into a Hexenbiest threw me for such a loop after what Rick did to me and Mitch. Renard was still looking at me questioningly as I studied him and for a moment I wondered if he saw Mitch standing outside.

“Is Hank still at that B&E?” I tested the waters with a neutral question.

Sean inhaled, closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke, “Why is Mitch Jonnathen outside?”

I knew he had seen the equally as tall man, who happened to be a Mauvais Dentes. Little passed those light brown and green eyes with specs of gold floating around the iris. What should I tell the Police Captain? I was feeling guilty about not seeing the man after the night we went to the hospital in the back of the ambulance; the fact that I haven’t been able to get the Wesen male out of my mind until the blow-out with Juliette? All of the answers had a merit of truth to them.

“He didn’t have a place to stay or a source of income.” I stated, the dead body in the room forgotten.

Sean closed the door behind him and walked towards me, forcing me to back step until the wall halted my retreat. There was an electric heat dancing between us making my breath come quicker. His eyes bore into mine as he looked down at me, his mouth was set in a grim line. Was he going to chastise me? A tremor ran up my spine as a memory from the night Mitch had my hands bound. I could feel a specter of the twine wrapped around my wrists as I tried to put my hands on the man to feel his skin.

“My, someone’s aroused…” Sean’s voice ghosted over my skin, raising goose bumps on its path.

_Touch me, touch me, touch me_ , the voice inside my head was saying the mantra over and over as my hands moved slowly behind my back, acting like that night a week ago. A rational part of my brain needed to explain to Sean about Mitch and I tried to explain and gasped as Sean stepped a fraction of an inch closer, “He…He didn’t have…anyone…”

“And you offered him..?” Sean asked while his arms moved to either side of my body, totally encompassing me.

I was finding it hard to breathe, much less speak, but I tried to manage as I answered, “A-A room… until he could…could find work…”

“Well, aren’t you…a- Good Samaritan?” Sean cooed next to my ear.

The sound of the door knob turning on the door made Sean jump back several feet and Hank entered the room looking from Sean to me. The Captain was a picture of self-control and every bit the man of his position. Me, on the other hand, I was gasping for breath, my hands were behind my back of their own volition, and there was even a light layer of sweat I could feel on my brow. As always, I was a mess and Sean was…perfect.

“What’d I miss?” Hank asked with a quirk of his lips, his gaze passing back and forth between Renard and me.

“Detective Burkhardt, Detective Griffin, I believe you two can handle this.” Sean stated before leaving the room. When he stepped behind Hank he looked back at me, a clear message of him wanting to talk to me afterward. After the open look, he parted from us.

Hank looked at me questioningly and I just shrugged before wondering what I was going to tell Sean later. There was a bunch of ideas running through my head now that I wasn’t high on endorphins from the quite possible sexual encounter. I just shook my head and left the room. What could Mitch do? He hadn’t really told me much about his past. Maybe I could start there and find out a specialty of his that he didn’t even think of. Whatever the possibilities, my mind was not in the right place for me to be on a crime scene. Hank would just have to deal with this too since I was going to be of little help to him. If he asked me I would just pull a favor from the many times I helped him through his own relationship problems.

~~~

I couldn’t tell Nick about the claiming tattoos and how they could save my life. My intentions for coming to the crime scene were purely innocent until I saw Mitch standing amongst the civilians, leaning on Nick’s truck. A primal need to be close and mark Nick colored my encounter with the Grimm shortly after. It felt good though, being so close to Nick, it reminded me of the many dreams I’ve had involving him. I needed to pass the time while I waited for Nick to come and talk to me. There was always paperwork that needed signing off. On my way back to my SUV, I noticed that Mitch wasn’t leaning against Nick’s truck anymore.

A smirk found its way onto my face as I thought the man must have run off after I showed up. Once in my vehicle, I grabbed the old book from the passenger seat and turned to the page with the claiming tattoos and a note with each person I needed to mark. _Grimm, Nick Burkhardt; Childhood Friend, Martin Meisner; Bodyguard, ?_ I needed to get in touch with Meisner and see what he was up to, not to mention tell him about my dreams which might intrigue him more than flirting around with the Resistance. After he agreed to join my side, he could even go back as my eyes and ears within the Guerrillas in Europe.

“Awesome Tattoos, what does the writing mean?” Mitch’s voice sounded from the back seat of my SUV, making me woge unintentionally into my Zauberbiest form.

A growl escaped my throat as I spun around in my seat, instantly closing the book in my hands. Mitch put his arms up in surrender. His inner wesen showed itself, all white fur and black stripes, as he said, “I come in peace, peace!”

The Mauvais Dentes’ gesture of peace could have been a total farce but I still owed him for saving Nick’s life. It could be a debt that I would never be able to pay back but the least I could do was hear the man out. If Mitch had wanted to kill me, he didn’t have to say anything and I wouldn’t ever have known he was in my back seat. As I thought it over, my vision started getting fuzzy and a headache was making itself present.

Before long, I ended up losing my woge and blood splotches were oozing to the surface of my button up shirt. My head fell forward onto the steering wheel while my eyes screwed shut in pain even my hands let go of the book, allowing it to fall open on the floor of the SUV. A groan escaped from my lips and distantly I heard Mitch’s voice calling my name. It didn’t matter though; the snake charms’ side effects were getting worse. I was only in my woge state for several minutes before this happened. And after that thought, there was nothing as unconsciousness took me over.

I woke up later in a strange room and when I looked around squinting, I saw Mitch looking through my Regnant tome. The book must have remained opened on the floor when I passed out… Whatever the reason, I shot up into a sitting position and had to fight a bout of vertigo. Mitch looked up from the book and noticed me bring my hand to my forehead, trying to stop the spinning. Something cool was laid on the back of my hand; I grabbed it and placed it on my forehead which eased the vertigo at least a little bit.

“Where am I?” I asked with my eyes still shut. Bright lights hurt.

It took a moment for the man to reply which meant he was debating his answer. He coughed as a cover before saying, “Nic- Detective Burkhardt’s spare room.”

“Nick Burkhardt’s spare-” I gasped out. Did my Grimm sanction this? I’ve never been further than the bottom floor when- I was shot. I needed to think passed that time while the new younger female Grimm was here, in my town. I inhaled deeply and asked, “Does he know I’m here?”

I heard Mitch sigh before he answered, “No…”

“Then how- Have you been here before?” I asked, curiously.

“Well, I wouldn’t be good at my job if I couldn’t do a rudimentary background check.” Mitch answered, his voice seemed like he was further in the room. The blinding light against my eye lids dropped almost instantly, allowing me to open them.

I noticed he closed the blinds that allowed the sun to shine directly on me. He was even considerate enough to turn the lights off in the room so that the only source was coming from the hallway. It was all…strange that he made himself feel comfortable around Nick’s house without ever being here. What was even stranger was that he felt comfortable around me. I was finding it eerily easy to talk to the man. He was resourceful, he was the leader of the band of Coyotl, and he seemed to care for Nick and by extension, me.

“Can I ask what you did before becoming the leader of a bunch of Coyotl?” I asked politely.

Again, Mitch paused before answering me. He was most likely going to come up with some random story. Mitch inhaled deeply before he replied to my question, “You may not believe me, but I’m from a wealthy Mauvais Dentes Clan in Europe.”

I know a surprised look was on my face. Slack jaw, wide eyes, and my eyebrows were half way up my brow. Mitch let out a short laugh before he continued, “Mauvais Dentes are rare. My family has their hands in a lot of political powers in Europe and Asia. I went to college for a few years before I got recruited by my family to serve under a young Royal as a bodyguard slash advisor. I’m sure you know that Royals can be a pain in the ass, this one was no exception. I was a glorified babysitter with a high price client.”

“How’d you get away? You couldn’t kill the Royal without being put to death yourself-” I started to work through it when an idea popped into my head and I continued, “That’s where you met a Coyotl across seas and they smuggled you out.”

In the dim light I saw Mitch smile as he said, “I was told you were good and not to mess with you, but no. I didn't meet the Coyotl till I was state side.”

That kept one of my eyebrows raise as I asked, “Oh? Who’d you run across and by the way how did you managed to lose any accent you might have had.”

“I'm sure you know when you are running for your life, you can do anything to survive. Having a European accent made me stick out here in America and I didn't need the Royal's finding me because I talked funny. As for the contact, I doubt you know the man. Being a Royal you shouldn’t have any ties to Resistance members.” The man said, crossing his arms in a surprisingly defensive posture.

I smirked and replied, “You’d be surprised. And here I thought you were good at your job?”

“Alright then, he was called Meisner, I didn’t catch a first name. You know him?” Mitch queried.

~~~~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is a link with the Claiming/Marking Tattoos. Tell me what you think ^.^ http://natsuyo-ii.deviantart.com/gallery/53382719/Grimm-Tattoo-PicDevious-Folder


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